Maverick or Mental?

A lot of the people we admire in life are iconoclasts in one sense or another. Popular celebrities and even die hard activists have idiosyncrasies which make them stand out, perhaps even inappropriately at times.

Certain mavericks have the ability to change trends or start entire religious followings. Others have the capacity to incite feelings of rage or distrust.

As I was reading an article about Sinead O'Connor's transformation into the reggae singer she now claims to be, I got to thinking about what is acceptable levels of pushing the envelope and what is not. What behaviors engage us enough to emulate and what behaviors we disapprove of or ignore.

As marketers, the sociological impact of what Sinead did with the picture of the Pope and the impact of that action should be burnt into our memory in the same way that Richard Branson can scale down the side of a building in an inflatable superhero suit to promote his new line of cell phones. It goes beyond religion. Madonna has stepped on the Catholics toes since she came on the scene, and yet she's still around.

Why we accept the comb-over and bullishness of Donald Trump and Paris Hilton's pampered childishness is something to be closely examined.

Why do we aspire to be like or be humored by the Donald Trumps and loathe or disregard the Sineads?