Brand Spanking, New: Hospitable Hilton?

I am no fan of Paris Hilton . In fact, my stomach turns a bit at her name and image. She is, in many ways, everything that is wrong with our culture. While education fails, families struggle and legitimate accomplishments go ignored or mocked, we celebrate (hence the word “celebrity”) this bit of well-funded trash. She is a talent-free zone of unbridled indulgence and criminal behavior. The song is proof. The horror show is proof. The tender and mature f**k flick is proof. The panties-in-public is proof. The pantiless-in-public is proof. So is the history of accidents and, now, prison.

There is nothing worthwhile to see here, much less anything to celebrate. I suspect most of us look at her with a bit of horror, wondering how she roams free. The blinding flashbulbs are those following a freak sneaking in and out of a carnival tent.

But roam free she does. Paris has been let of jail early . From 45 days. To 23. To three. Why? Because of an “undisclosed” medical condition. Many an aged criminal with any number of legitimate ailments have done their time, restoring a bit of honor along the way. Paris couldn’t stand three days without a pillow. She was cold. Had anxiety attacks. Excuse me, but prison is a sentence to be endured, not an inconvenient test of tolerance. By letting her out early, she has added a bit of new “equity” to brand Paris: in addition to everything else noted above, she now embodies absolute disrespect for our culture – from the judicial system to all those who have been hit by the damage of drunk driving . Her selfishness is this all-consuming.

So much for my rant. Here’s where it comes home to roost, in my view: she is a magnificent bit of negativity for the Hilton Hotels brand. And the company is doing nothing in terms of brand management to deal with it. She is marketed as “ hotel heiress Paris Hilton ,” tying her directly to the brand. And any Google search brings her up right beneath the paid listings for the company. She is an unintentional, undesirable spokesperson for the brand. In fact, she actively works against it, publicly claiming that she doesn’t stay in Hilton Hotels because she “likes other places better.”

If Hilton Hotels cares about any degree of brand integrity, it will work aggressively to manage this member of the family. If there is any truth whatsoever to the company’s tagline “ be hospitable ,” it will prove that selfishness, criminal behavior and tasteless socializing have no place in its brand’s system of meaning.

As it stands now, Paris Hilton is an out-of-control brand extension , draining equity from the very source of her own wealth. If Paris Hilton has any interest in staying rich, she will see that her own behavior decays the equity that made her unjustifiably famous. Then again, she does not seem to be interested in what is right or responsible on any level.

Really, it’s a simple choice for the controlling family: “hospitable” vs. “ho, spitable.” I, for one, want to spit when I see this half wit cooing and posing and flashing. That leaves a bad taste in my mouth for the parent company as well.