PR Winner of the Week: Miss New Jersey

After coming forward with photos that could have comprised her role as New Jersey’s reigning beauty queen, Miss New Jersey, Amy Palumbo has been allowed to keep her crown. Although this was damaging to her personal brand, she certainly has demonstrated her chutzpah for pushing back on people trying to undermine her integrity as a beauty queen.

In my opinion, being forthcoming saved her. She didn’t deny the photos or make too many excuses (although she did say they were meant to be private – someone please tell her privacy is dead in age of camera phones.) She was booked on NBC’s Today Show on July 12 and shared her risqué photos with the world. She was fully clothed in all of them, but they were certainly compromising positions. She seemed nervous and embarrassed by the whole ordeal. But I believe her decision to be frank about the nature of the photos is what saved her crown.

In addition, if pageant officials were to set the precedent for stripping young women of their titles for photos of them having an unbridled good time – there would be a smaller crop of women vying for pageant titles. Let’s face it, today everyone between the ages of 13-24 has access to a digital camera or camera phone. It is easier than ever to catch someone doing something naughty. Pageant officials are going to have to relax there outdated rules and guidelines if they want women to continue to compete.

Miss New Jersey, Amy Palumbo, is my pick for the PR Winner of the Week for her savviness in using an appearance on The Today Show to save her crown.


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