Why Blake Lively’s PR is Failing: 3 Reasons You’re Doing It Wrong

Blake Lively isn’t a mean girl. She is a legacy brand using an outdated operating system.

I’ve watched the "It Ends With Us" press run for three weeks. It is a masterclass in how to incinerate ten years of goodwill in ten days.

The internet didn’t turn on Blake Lively because of one bad interview. It turned on her because her PR team tried to apply a 2014 "Cool Girl" filter to a 2024 "Accountability" world.

If you are building a brand, a business, or a career, you need to pay attention.

Here is why the Lively machine is breaking.

1. You can’t sell a funeral like a garden party.

The movie is about domestic violence. It is about trauma. It is about the hardest moments a human being can endure.

Blake Lively marketed it like a summer brunch.

"Grab your friends, wear your florals, and come see the movie."

That was the pitch. I saw the clips. I saw the flower crown workshops. I saw the cross-promotion for her hair care line and her sparkling mixers.

In marketing, we call this Tonal Dissonance.

It is the equivalent of selling luxury luggage at a plane crash site. It’s not just bad taste. It’s a failure to understand the product.

I see entrepreneurs do this every day. They try to "pivot" a serious pain point into a "vibe." They try to make their customer's struggle look "aesthetic."

If your product solves a deep, painful problem, your marketing must respect that pain.

Blake Lively treated a story about abuse as a backdrop for a lifestyle brand. The audience felt the disconnect. They felt it in their gut.

When you ignore the soul of your work to sell the surface, you lose the audience. Every time.

2. In PR, if you try to "win" an interview, you lose the audience.

The 2016 interview clip with Kjersti Flaa is a brand suicide note.

I’ve analyzed it frame by frame.

The journalist says, "Congrats on your bump." Blake responds, "Congrats on your bump" to a woman who isn't pregnant.

It was meant to be a "clap back." It was meant to be sharp.

Blake tried to win the interaction. She tried to dominate the room.

In the old era of Hollywood, "untouchable" was the goal. Stars were supposed to be better than us. They were supposed to be intimidating.

That era is dead.

I tell my clients this constantly: The power dynamic has shifted. The audience no longer worships the person on the pedestal. They look for the cracks in the pedestal.

When you act like you are "above" the person asking the questions, you aren't being a "girlboss." You are being a bully.

In a world of TikTok and raw video, "polished" is the new "fake."

Blake’s PR team focused on making her look perfect. They should have focused on making her look human.

The moment you try to prove you are the smartest person in the room, the room leaves.

3. The "Power Couple" multiplier is now a liability.

Blake and Ryan Reynolds have the most successful joint PR machine in history.

It’s a "Funny/Beautiful/Perfect" loop. He tweets something self-deprecating. She posts a glamorous photo. They "troll" each other.

It worked for a decade.

But this month, the machine glitched.

Ryan Reynolds wrote a scene for "It Ends With Us." He did junket interviews for his wife’s movie while promoting "Deadpool."

It felt like a monopoly.

I’ve spent years studying brand saturation. There is a tipping point where "omnipresent" becomes "exhausting."

The audience started to feel like the movie wasn't an artistic choice. It felt like a corporate takeover.

While the director, Justin Baldoni, was talking about the weight of domestic violence, Blake and Ryan were talking about how they "work together on everything."

It made the project feel like a family vanity project.

People don't want to buy from a monolithic "Perfect Couple" anymore. They want to buy from individuals with a perspective.

When you lean too hard on your "brand partners" or your "power network," you look like you’re hiding behind them.

The "Lively-Reynolds" brand is too big to be relatable. And in 2024, if you aren't relatable, you’re a target.

The Insight

Here is my prediction. Nobody else is saying this.

The "Perfect Power Couple" is the new "Corporate Overlord."

We used to hate CEOs in suits. Now we hate celebrities who never turn off the "sell."

Blake Lively will go silent for 12 to 18 months. She will stop the "trolling" posts. She will stop the floral-themed junkets.

She will return with a "raw," "unfiltered" documentary or a long-form interview where she cries. She will talk about how "the internet is a scary place."

It will be another PR move. And it will fail.

Why? Because the audience has seen the blueprint. Once you see how the magic trick is done, you can’t enjoy the show.

The only way out for her—and for any brand facing a crisis—is radical transparency.

Not a "statement." Not a "rebrand."

Just the truth.

"I handled this poorly. I was too focused on the business and I forgot the human story."

That is the only sentence that can save her. But her team will never let her say it. They are too busy trying to "win."

The CTA

Who is the most authentic person in your feed right now? Why do you actually trust them?