In his latest attempt to land himself in the news, gadfly publicist
Alan Caruba has released The 18th Annual List of the Most Boring
Celebrities of the Year, a round-up of 10 famous folks who, as he sees
it, have been the recipients of "massive media over-exposure."
However, Caruba, founder of The Boring Institute, seems to define the
term differently than Webster's, as 90% of the "boring" celebs in his
2001 rankings have, in fact, found themselves mixed up in a juicy news
story during the past 11 months. "These are people who have had horrible
PR problems, and gotten even worse advice," he "clarifies."
PRWeek noticed that at least half of this year's picks (Hillary and Bill
Clinton, Barbra Streisand, and Rev. Jesse Jackson, who nosed Gary Condit
into second place for top dishonors) are prominent Democrats, but Caruba
says he harbors no hidden political agenda. "That's just the way it
worked out," he said. Instead, he explained, a more general "moral
judgement was brought to bear" as he determined the final rankings.
Britney Spears, for example, seems to have been selected as number five
not only because of her midriff-baring ways, but also on the prospect of
more risque behavior to come. "I guarantee you that she will follow the
paths of other teen idols," he said. "Pretty soon, her albums will stop
selling, and before you know it, you'll see her on the cover of
Playboy." (Sadly, Caruba could think of no such examples. "You got me,"
he confessed.)
Caruba boasted that "the list this year has gotten nothing but universal
acclaim - at least in terms of talk radio." Our eyes are peeled, then,
for the chance that his rankings might win him a slot on someone else's
boring list. That's "boring" by his own definition, naturally.
