JANUARY 13, 2006

The Power of Oprah

Since we mentioned Oprah in a post earlier this week, I thought I’d mention my recent Oprah experience. 

Not long ago, my mother gave me her copy of A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey, a book she read because Oprah recommended it. My mom wasn’t the only one who bought the book after seeing it on Oprah. The book is a memoir of the author’s rehab from drug and alcohol addiction and has sold over 3.5 million copies so far.

As you may already know, this week the book has become the source of a highly publicized controversy, where the author has been accused of writing a nonfiction book containing “exaggerations,” “embellishments,” and “misrepresentations.” It all began with an exclusive article that was published on “The Smoking Gun” website, called A Million Little Lies: Exposing James Frey’s Fiction Addiction.” This article was the result of an intensive 6-week investigation which involved scouring court records and police records and interviewing law enforcement, concluding that Frey fabricated details in his memoir regarding his criminal career and jail terms.

For two days after the initial article there was a lot of negative media buzz towards Frey. Readers were outraged, and then the publisher offered refunds to customers of the book. There were also questions about a planned movie of the book, and according to them the movie project may need “a rehab of it’s own.”

My mother called to tell me how angry she was that she had been lied to and “duped” by Frey. She was not the only one who felt that way. Consumers today have very high expectations for honesty and transparency. We don’t handle dishonesty or even “embellishments” very well at all. When we read a book, we like to know if it is fiction or non-fiction. There is no grey area for us, as there seemed to be for Frey in his memoir.  So, the other night Frey appeared on Larry King Live for his first interview since the allegations were made. One of the first questions King asked him was if he had talked to Oprah and if she would continue to endorse the book. He did not know. After a lot of speculation on her reaction, Oprah called into the show to state her position. Oprah called the allegations “much ado about nothing" and said she will continue recommending the book.

I was not surprised when my mother emailed me this morning to say that Oprah had made some good points in her defense of Frey, and she decided he wasn’t such a bad guy after all. The media felt the same way, and according to USA Today, ”Winfrey’s latest endorsement could likely keep Pieces a strong seller.”  What does all this say about consumers? We have high standards, for both people and for products. But we are also easily swayed and we can still be forgiving.  All it took was one phonecall from Oprah to Larry King to sway public opinion back into Frey’s favor. I don’t know if this speaks more to the power of forgiveness or the power of Oprah.