Sunny Leone : The Judo Principle in PR

Recently people went ga-ga when Sunny Leone fixed her obnoxious interlocutor  on a TV show  called the HotSeat from CNN-IBN earlier this month.

The video posted on January 15, 2016 on youtube, is already running over 1 million views and has helped Sunny Leone, Bollywood  and former porn star, redeem her  reputation only because of how she handled the journalist in the interview.  Public emotion from people who were at best ambivalent to Sunny Leone weighed suddenly in her favour and against the journalist in question.  How did this happen all because of one TV interview lasting 20 minutes?  Can your whole reputation take an upturn because of a decidedly tough interview you handled with a  well prepared journalist who was all ready, to give you a knock out jab and put you down on the floor.  What made Sunny Leone the star of the show?  

I think she used a principle that is used in the martial arts particularly judo and Jujitsu.  Here are some of them.

1. Judo techniques enable a weak and small person to overcome a large and strong person because they are based on scientific principles such as leverage and balance.

In this case Sunny Leone was the weak person and the journalist was the strong person who had done some google digging into her less than illustrious past and wanted to overcome her.  Sunny used leverage and balance to overcome her opponent.

Interviewer :  Tell me one thing that you regret. One thing that went wrong for you?

Interviewer is hoping that it is an opening gambit for leading Sunny Leone into her previous life as a porn star.  The problem is that he is judging her by his own moral standards.  He assumes that she regrets her past as as porn star.  Without knowing at all how she views it.  Also he makes the classic mistake of an open ended question.  An open ended question can be interpreted in multiple ways.

Sunny Leone : Professionally or personally?

Smart move by Sunny.  Since this is an open ended question she is trying to narrow down the field of inquiry.  

Unfortunately the Interviewer once again leaves the option to her.  So this is more open ended than open ended can ever be.  Another mistake Mr Interviewer. Expect to get nothing from an open ended question.

Sunny Leone : Actually there is only one regret i have  in my life.  When my mother passed away I couldn’t get home fast enough.

Interviewer is bleeding and down. No hope for recovery on this question.  He has missed the target by a million miles. He has to hope for another opening later on in the interview.

2.  The first thing to learn is never to oppose strength to strength. If you do that, the stronger man will inevitably win

Sunny used this principle to the hilt. She never once directly opposed anything the journalist asked her.  She was honest and replied with conviction. She never actually defended herself.  She just spoke the truth and was either nonchalant about it, or put it away  in a light hearted manner.

Interviewer : Do you think Aamir Khan would ever work you?

Sunny Leone : Probably not. 

The answer is to the point.  Nothing more. Nothing less.  Sunny does not offer an explanation why not.  Because that question has not been yet asked. Why bother with an explanation. Also probably is a wonderful word. Probably not could mean probably yes as well.  Although the chances of not are more.

Interviewer : Why not?

Interviewer pushes the point hoping to get a reaction.

 Sunny Leone : Because of my background.  Oh I have no idea.

Sunny decides to still leave it open.  After all maybe she really has no idea. Why should she speculate.

3. It is important to throw your opponent by making use of his loss of balance

Interviewer : Would you want to work with Aamir? ( referring to Aamir Khan )

Hoping that she would feel the same away about Aamir as Aamir would feel about her. And hoping to draw her into a controversy. If she says something negative about Aamir Khan he has got her pinned to the ground.

Sunny Leone : Who wouldn’t. Of course. 

Sunny has now tripped the interviewer by doing an unexpected move.  She has shown no negative emotions to Aamir, if it is in fact true that he may not want to work with her.

Interviewer : So you would want to work with Aamir.  But Aamir wouldn’t want to work with you. How does that affect you?

Sunny Leone : It doesn’t affect me. I am still going to be an Aamir fan.

Checkmate from Sunny Leone.  This is another dig from the interviewer that has completed failed. He has completely misjudged Sunny as an opponent by now. In fact  public sympathy for Sunny was so high after the interview that Aamir publicly said that he wouldn't mind working with Sunny Leone.   

 4.  The Anchor Principle in Jujitsu

The use of an anchor principle will alter the distribution of strength and energy of an opponent's attack.

Interviewer :  Atul Anjan a CPI member of Parliament has consistently  gone on record to say that you are corrupting Indian minds, Indian morality...

Sunny Leone :  I think I am happy to be a part of a political speech, if you think so much about me in your day, you want to put me in your speeches and you want to blame me for things, I think it is  that person's choice. I am waiting for Obama to make a speech about me. I am waiting for the day when American politicians put me in their speeches.

Again Sunny has thwarted the attack. She has completely altered the strength of the attack that she is corrupting Indian minds and morality. In fact she has made the journalist look stupid.  And eminent people who speak about her in their speeches.

Interviewer : Many Indian married women who  look at Sunny Leone as a threat towards their husbands. They believe that their husbands are going to be taken away by Sunny Leone.

Sunny Leone : Sorry I don’t want your husbands at all..  I have my own. he is hot and sexy.  and I love him.  He is very smart and very talented. Sorry ladies I don’t want  your husbands. 

The anchor principle in effect again. By saying that she is very happy with her husband,  and she has no desire for other women's husbands she once again redeems her previous reputation as a porn star.

The interviewer then takes one last chance to draw her into a controversy by trying to get her to comment on the Chief of the Indian Censor Board.  After all a ex porn star must have some serious views on how films are being censored in India.  But all she does is to throw the journalist off balance once again.

Interviewer : How do you think of Pahlaj Nehlani when he censored a kiss in the James Bond film?

Sunny Leone :Its his thought, the board decides it,  I don’t want to say what my opinion of that is.  

Her final repartee to the interviewing journalist 'I have no reason to hate you and you have no reason to hate me because of your views on life' is a potent masterstroke.

There are many lessons to be learnt from this interview.  CEOs go through difficult situations dealing with the press especially in times of crisis.  This interview is a case study in turning the tables against journalists who are waiting for you to make mistake and destroy your reputation.

The CNN-IBN program titled Hot Seat turned out to be a bit of  misnomer because this time around it was the journalist who was in the Hot Seat rather than Sunny Leone.

Prabhakar Mundkur is an independent brand & marketing consultant.  He has experience across a wide range of categories from fmcg, healthcare, technology, durables to corporate brand strategy.  He is also Chief Mentor at Percept H.

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