Although its storyline was cause for concern, very few predicted that The Interview – a movie on tabloid journalists setting up an interview with North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un after finding out he is a huge fan of their show – only to then be asked by the CIA to assassinate the leader – would lead to controversy of international magnitude. After the debacle that resulted from the Sony hack and inputs from everyone – North Korea, Sony and President Obama – and then the imposition of sanctions on North Korea by the US, one has got to wonder: was it all worth it? While some believe The Interview struck gold, others do not agree that the publicity worked in anyone’s favor. Weask: Rachel Dunn, VP corporate and consumer, Weber Shandwick MENA; Sasan Saeidi, managing director, FP7/UAE; Abhi Sen, strategic marketing consultant, Entourage Marketing & Events and Yousef Tuqan Tuqan, chief innovation officer, Leo Burnett/Publicis Group ME.
Thoughts on Sony’s hack and self-censorship, and US President Obama’s stand against it
Scandal, offense, drama and hype have always been part of our lives. Look at history; how many examples can you pull out? Endless. Censorship sits delicately in-between cultural sensitivity and freedom of speech and, every once in a while, they will have a go. Sony recalled the film because of commercial concerns. President Obama’s opposition was purely political one-upmanship – Sen
I think all this CNN-breaking-news [action] only added to the fame and desirability of the movie – I’ve seen it and, it’s not even a good movie. However, the issue I would like to focus on even more is that the world that we are living in today is becoming ever more volatile and unpredictable on some levels. Hacking, cyber crime and terrorism are becoming the biggest threats to all of us. What happened is scary, and we need to see the bigger picture on what the world has come to – Saeidi
Clearly, for a global movie behemoth such as Sony, to have been hacked into on such a scale is embarrassing and invites serious questions around the company’s security and data privacy strategy and practices. On one hand, emails from Sony execs calling Angelina Jolie a “spoilt brat” are mere tabloid fodder and, it’s unlikely that they will cause any major reputational damage – apart from a few red-faced execs. However, the extent of the hack went much further than this, with salary revelations that reeked of gender discrimination and the even more worrying leak of personnel data, including the salaries and medical records of employees and their families. For me, this is what will cause more lasting damage to Sony’s reputation. What about Sony’s decision to pull the film? Well, considering that President Obama was against it, and the subsequent backtrack by the company before pulling it again indicates that it wasn’t sure of its decision. Part of a company’s ability to weather a storm of this magnitude is to lead the charge by making firm, reasoned decisions and to stick by them – Dunn
I believe it was a strong wake-up call to organizations everywhere that even internal communications can quickly become very public. It calls for not only better control within organizations to secure their communications, but also for individuals to be more vigilant about how they communicate and conduct themselves online. Today’s email could be tomorrow’s headline. In a time when people with political or ideological grievances are turning to violence to express their disagreement – as was the case for the Charlie Hebdo attack – this only serves to further encourage such threats. I am fundamentally opposed to self-censorship due to real or perceived threats – Tuqan
Repercussions on online safety and cyber security
Naturally, any hacking scandal brings into question all sorts of issues related to data protection and cyber security – after all, we now live in a society in which there is an online record of pretty much all aspects of our personal and professional lives. Whenever this data is compromised on such a grand scale, it will cause fear amongst the general public and concern over whether companies and governments can keep up with the ever- sophisticated technology used by hackers. More importantly, there will be outrage and anger amongst those affected, demonstrated in this case by a class-action lawsuit filed against Sony for not doing enough to protect its data. On a broader level, whether people will react to this by retreating from the online space, or by calling for stricter cyber protection laws and regulations, remains to be seen – certainly, a high-profile case such as Sony’s will bring this to the public’s attention now more than ever. Only time will tell – Dunn
Social media and our “always-on” digital culture are increasingly blurring the line between our private and public lives. The emphasis for individuals should be not only on increased personal cyber security, but, also, on more vigilance around how best to ensure that private communications and material are not made public through carelessness or malicious attacks – Tuqan
Large numbers of online users will cry themselves hoarse on public platforms saying that this is not fair. In private, they will reap the outcomes of information leak. The only winners will be cyber security solutions providers who will have a new agenda to sell their products and services – Sen
What The Interview’s digital sales success could mean for Hollywood
Online is being used to create more intrigue and desire. Similarly to creative ideas being seeded online, movies and other content are being pushed through this tactic. More and more brands will start to use online as their sole platform for trial – Saeidi
Big-budget Hollywood films have never been distributed like this before, and I think that this has been a ‘happy accident’ in some ways. Starting The Interview’s distribution through legitimate paid channels online shows publishers that there is a market and an appetite for individuals to legitimately consume paid content online if the channels are easily accessible – Tuqan
For me, The Interview has really been the only winner in all of this. Naturally, when a film causes such controversy, people are more curious than ever – I fully admit I’m one of them and watched the film online, primarily to see what all the fuss was about. I think even before this film, there has been a growing shift into revealing, launching or leaking content online before it goes out via the usual mass-market channels. I see this continuing in future, especially with music and video content. Content producers will need to meet this demand by delivering exclusive content via non-traditional channels – Dunn
Market shapes content. Leaks, planned or unplanned, are catering to content consumption demands of the audience. This too shall pass, to new emerging trends. Selfies are so 2014 – Sen
The Interview and its mixed reviews: a success or a flop?
Success. To have ruffled feathers around the world and to have the most important per- son on earth give it invaluable unpaid media time cannot be a failure. Everyone involved in the project will introduce themselves in this format from now on: “Hello, I am ABC, remember The Interview movie? Well I was responsible for…”. That counts for success in my book – Sen
I think the movie was mediocre at best. I would have never watched had it been in the cinemas. But because there was so much hype around it, this whole hacking PR event just made the movie more desirable. Everyone wanted to know: why all this commotion? And I think more people ended up watching it online than they would have at movie theaters – Saeidi
The film has had mixed success, owing mostly to the mixed reviews that viewers have given it. I think that the hack and its surrounding publicity have not given it any more chance for success or failure – Tuqan
I think it has certainly made more people more curious about watching it. A bit of controversy is usually a surefi way to boost both intrigue and views. Whether this makes the fi a success or a failure is not so clear-cut, though; sure, more people have probably viewed it online than they might have chosen to watch it in the cinema. But, ultimately it’s still just a comedy with a pretty far-fetched plot – Dunn
