Chris

Given your scenario, I’d say Greg Page would have to do what Magic did: Come clean. He’d have to admit he made mistakes (especially since he’s married), and fall on the mercy of public opinion.

Maybe proceeds from the Wiggles’ concerts and any of Page’s record sales would be donated to AIDS research.

But, all that is hypothetical. Wouldn’t want to start any rumors with the Wiggles.

Mike

Based on your Magic Johnson reference, from a parents viewpoint, we would certainly tone down our kids’ exposure to the Wiggles.

My wife and I preview/approve what our kids watch, so we’d be leary about their exposure to the Wiggles *and* any subsequent news about them. But, the entertainment and educational value of the Wiggles as a whole would still be valid.

It’d be a tough call.
Mike

So, you’ve seen the group five times! You know, the more I learn about this group, the bigger the story seems to be for children and their parents. Your experiences – along with those in the link Lee provided – certainly seem to illustrate the group’s strong appeal.

To some degree, this comes down to a customer/consumer issue. The customer is essentially the parents. The consumer, to some degree, is the children. However, it seems that the parents are also in that category, too.

I would think that if the kids continue to clamor for the Wiggles, then they are safe.

Now, on a totally different front … what if Greg Page had done a Magic Johnson? What if he had announced that he was retiring because he had AIDS?  Or, what if the behaviours in the parody video above were revealed as truth? I know that’s a bit off the wall, but what would have been the strategies for dealing with it …. and, what would the likely outcome be? I have my opinions, but what does everyone else think?

As a Wiggles fan — having seen them at least five times in Windsor and Detroit — there is concern for the group with Greg Wiggle’s leaving.

However, look who the Wiggles really target: 8yoa and under. Greg is a great lead singer — and has done solo, adult work, too — but it is a group effort. Anthony sings (and eats). Murray sings (and plays guitar). Jeff is really the only one who doesn’t sing solo (but he’s the only one with previous band experience).

Children get geeked up about the Wiggles’ songs and dances, and other characters — Dorothy the Dinosaur, Captain Feathersword, etc. (Note: Dorothy often tours on her own.)

While parents may notice a difference, as long as the songs are entertaining and colorful, the core audience won’t notice — much.

Mike
(a proud — old — dad of three, with one more due in June/July)

That link you provided is quite telling. If anyone will understand the emotion involved – what this is all about – it must be a parent that spent so much time with the Wiggles as their children grew up. That mom was quite touched by the news.

The video was a bit bizarre to me, too. I’m not familiar with the persona these guys exhibit when they usually talk to their fans, so it seemed to me like the video was a rather awkward attempt at settling people’s fears. I think you’re right, it was aimed at the parents and not so much for the kids.

I would have thought this was the perfect time for a song/music video that could explain the “how change happens, illness occurs, but life goes on” kinda thing. That could offset the video aimed at parents. But, I’m not too into the whole kids music scene.

It will be interesting to see how all this plays out.

Thanks, Lee.

The faces may change and more worryingly the ‘soul’ of the band will change. Greg will have to take on a ‘more managerial, less hands-on’ role and over time allow his replacement to have more say in the material.

But purely for personal reasons, I am stunned by the video press release, if only because a) it is so corporate and cold, and speaks only to adults; and b) because he uses my pet peeve phrase: “going forward” (how else does one go? I only want my chauffeur to use the phrase, not some business jargon-hunter).

The Wiggles will now enter the corporate world in the minds of the parents in the audience (although of course they have been a corporate entity for a long time now, but we kind of deliberately chose to ignore that because they were all just lovely, friendly ‘song and dance’ men) and now may be the time to exit gracefully, rather than have, say 50-year old Mick Jagger look-alikes running around on stage waggling their hands. And Jeff already looks a bit like Keef…