Blowing your own trumpet. Over-selling yourself. &c. &c. As though it is not enough that your average voter is kept completely in the dark as to the actual content of the plans for government from the two major parties (barring of course a hermeneutic roadmap or other) he also has to succumb to the marketing overload coming from individual candidates gearing up for another campaign. Facebook is replete with a variety of “individual” campaigns . There’s George Pullicino asking you to join “Team GP” (smart one George but make sure the printers don’t give that Orange a Romanista twist).
I believe that yesterday I saw Charlò Bonnici calling out for members to become part of “his team” while Silvio Parnis is already in “ear-ring giveaway” mode as reported in the pink part of the blogging world. Newcomers are the hardest to fathom – is a potential Franco Debono lying in the background? How can the early signs of megalomania be spotted? Well one clear indicator could be the candidates who oversell themselves and whose PR manager does not seem to see a problem with multiple interviews puffing one’s own ego. Cue Claudio Grech… the latest subject of the shtf never-ending satirical campaign.
Fresh from under the wings of Austin Gatt (hmmm not so sure about the fresh bit) Claudio has joined that other horse from the Gatt stables (Arriva Delia) in the business of self-promotion. So what do we get? Not one but two interviews in the Sunday papers. Unfortunately for Claudio both papers chose a particular trumpet blowing headline. In the case of the Sunday Times it was “I’m the face of evolution” while in the case of MaltaToday we had “I am an action man“. Right. At least Franco Debono had the decency of boasting about certificates and exam results assessed by others.
Did Claudio utter those two phrases or are they the interviewer’s summary? Whatever the case we get a picture of arrogance – a trait that seems to be the particular branding mark from Austin’s stables. Will it be succesful?
I am sceptic.
