Did Jerry Seinfeld's Lady Gaga Radio Rant Help Publicity Hungry Shockrocker?

Although this comedic bit is imaginary, it could easily have been delivered by an irked Jerry Seinfeld, who ranted about Lady Gaga on radio station WFAN 12 days after Lady Gaga was given refuge in Jerry's celebrity box at the New York Mets Citi Field Stadium to allegedly shield herself from gawking fans and photographers.

Not everyone is buying the diva's Garbo routine. According to an article on NYDailyNews.com, "she (Gaga) told Mets officials she 'wanted to go incognito' because she didn't want to be photographed, but showed up donning a metal-studded bikini. She then became incensed when photographers located near her seat behind home plate were able to recognize and take pictures of her."

What Jerry Seinfeld Said About Lady Gaga

On a livejournal.com audio link (click here) to the KFAN radio interview, Jerry Seinfeld can be heard ranting, "This woman is a jerk. I hate her. I can't believe they put her in my box, which I paid for. You give people the finger and you get upgraded? Is that the world we're living in now?"

Is Miley Cyrus Following in Lady Gaga's Stilettoed Footsteps?

What puzzles baby boomers like Jerry Seinfeld is the new breed of young celebrities who deliberately go out of their way to shock people and then act offended when they get attention for it. A similar incident occurred recently involving Miley Cyrus exiting a car with her skirt hiked up. Cyrus called celebrity blogster Perez Hilton an "idiot" for linking a revealing photo of her on his Twitter feed that suggested she was pantyless -- although Cyrus did not seem to mind being photographed pole dancing and making suggestive grinding moves with a man more than twice her age earlier this year.

On his KFAN radio interview, Seinfeld posed aloud a question shared by many of his older fan base concerning the vulgar antics of his junior colleagues. "I don't know what these young people think or how they promote their careers. I'm not one of these all-publicity-is-good people. People talk about 'You need exposure' -- you could die of exposure."

When it comes to the under-40 set, however, Jerry Seinfeld's PR strategy may be as dated as a rotary phone. A study in the Journal of Advertising Research found that a shocking advertising message "significantly increases attention, benefits memory, and positively influences behavior among a group of university students." The study defined a shocking message as one that "deliberately, rather than inadvertently, startles and offends its audience... through the process of norm violation...."

You mean like wearing a bathing suit to a ball game?

It is doubtful that Lady Gaga spends much time reading scholarly advertising journals, but she instinctively knows that wearing a bathing suit to a ball game and giving paparazzi the finger will give her enough ink and air time to sell more CDs and concert tickets.

As Jerry-the-Seinfeld-character might say, "Not that there's anything wrong with that." In a truly bizarro twist for the real Jerry, the Lady Gaga saga may have given the older comedian a nice PR boost and revealed his quirky humor to a new generation of fans.

Sources:

"Does it pay to shock? Reactions to shocking and nonshocking advertising content among university students." Journal of Advertising Research| September 01, 2003 | Dahl, Darren W.; Frankenberger, Kristina D.; Manchanda, Rajesh V. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-110222017/does-pay-shock-reactions.html

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/06/jerry_seinfeld_has_nasty_thing.html?imw=Y&f=most-viewed-24h5

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2010/06/20/2010-06-20_lady_gaga_antics_inspires_new_york_mets_promotion_for_david_wrights_allstar_camp.html#ixzz0rnj7BR5u

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1642141/20100622/seinfeld_jerry.jhtml

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/48211836.html?page=5