Creating Controversy Is One Way To Create Engagment—And One Of The Oldest Tricks!

I'm not surprised the Oscars used this strategy to create more engagement (ratings) and no matter what comes out, I'll never believe the "Smith Slap" wasn't staged.

Why?

Because they took a page out of a playbook I used hundreds of times. If you're desperate for attention, this psychology works every time.

But is it the right attention?

Is drama what you want to be known for?

Is this in the vein of Mr. Beast and other online attention mongers? Most likely. I used this in radio for years and there are still dinosaurs in the format probably still using staged "second date updates."

But who knows? No one listens to the radio anymore. I have few friends who even work in it!

But people still use this trick 👇