The Zayn Malik interview that smells like a stunt

The breakfast show from canadian radio station – Hot 89.9, received worldwide press coverage in regards to their recent on-air inteview with One Direction star Zayn Malik – but was the interview (or the edit) a stunt or the real thing?

Audio which is doing ‘the rounds’ on social media sites has One Direction’s Zayn Malik cut off during a radio interview after his label gave the presenter a list of rules about what questions could be asked. The supposed “off limits” list included: X Factor, celebrity crushes, girlfriends, who came up with the name One Direction, fan stories, pre-show rituals and pranks.

The interviewer eventually decided there was no point going ahead with the interview and once put on the phone to Zayn, can be heard saying:

“Hi Zayn you’re a very busy guy. I want to talk to you but I can’t do that…no X Factor, no pranks….well that’s about going to do it – Thanks for taking the time to talk to us.”

So was this a stunt by the team at Hot 89.9 hoping to create a stir on the internet amongst the 1D fan base or is this a real case of the record label having mass control of what their artists can say? Clever editing or censorship?

If this is the stunt  – it follows some simple PR stunt rules for great execution.

1. Take something that’s going to engage your audience and engage them well.

2. Do something new, shock the audience, go against the norm

3. Let the audience take control of spreading the message – social media is your friend