Kim Kardashian Divorce: Is This Media Darling’s Brand Tarnished?

Keeping up with the Kardashians—how can you not?

This has been even easier to do since Kim announced her divorce after 72 days of marriage. The media spotlight has been the name of the family’s game lately—even more so than usual.

This entire situation further begs questions about the authenticity of this family. From a branding perspective, negative questions like, “Is Kim genuine?”, “Did she marry for love or money?”, “Was the marriage all for the television spotlight?”, have definitely garnered more naysayers.

With this post on her website, she tried to explain her actions to fans, but it’s yet to be seen if this stunt will negatively impact her brand of perfumes, diet pills, clothing line or other endorsements. Will her beloved celebrity status fade as a result?

I’ve recently caught Kim’s mom, Kris Jenner, on a variety of talk shows promoting her new book that came out the same week Kim announced her divorce (interesting timing). There’s no question that Kris and her family are trained to clearly evade the issue, or use humor or emotion to deflect, when faced with questions they don’t want to answer. While they’ve been prepped, there have been some strange media instances of note:

• What about the gifts? Joy Behar on the Joy Behar Show asked Kris “What about my blender?”, referring to the wedding gift she gave Kim. When Kris appeared to discuss her book, she brought Joy two blenders. Funny? Maybe. But again, not surprisingly, the authenticity is missing.

• What about the ring? Total misstep when on Good Morning America, Kris said “Nobody likes an Indian giver”, implicating that Kim would be keeping the $2 million engagement ring. Rightfully so, backlash on this comment ensued by Native American groups.

• Will their new show go on? With a bevy of reality series, the family’s new show, Kourtney & Kim Take New York, will continue with its launch date. The Kardashian crew doesn’t let family issues stop its shows – even when the estranged hubby is on the promotion commercials.

Like it or not, up until this marriage snafu (or hoax) occurred, Kim has had a very strong brand and robust fan following. Is this wedding debacle enough to knock the Kardashian family out of the ring of reality heavyweights? Or will her “famous for being famous star” continue to shine brightly with more product launches, photo shoots and top-ranked TV shows?

I think it’s yet to be determined. But if there is one thing for certain, this family will continue to work the media spotlight to their advantage and find ways to make their 15 minutes extend to 30…or maybe 60.

What are your thoughts? Will the media get bored with the Kardashians eventually? Has the divorce tarnished Kim’s brand?

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