A couple of weeks ago, I chanced upon live streaming of UTV’s United Showbiz with Nana Ama McBrown. It had Lil Win (Kwadwo Nkansah) and Funny Face (Benson Nana Yaw Oduro Boateng) as guests. They were discussing matters about an award gone bad. Lil Win claimed that Funny Face did not deserve an award for Best Actor when people like him and others were still actively acting in the industry. Funny Face hit back and questioned Lil Win who he thinks he is to determine who wins an award or not. It got messy to the point that Funny Face left the scene to cool down tempers and later resurfaced. Sincerely, when I saw the exchange at first, I thought it was a joke but they were seriously not acting but displaying who they are.
I felt very sad for both Lil Win and Funny Face because they are two people who are called stars in Ghana and have become role models for many young people. I like watching Lil Win because he is very gifted in acting and can switch roles to perfectly fit in. Funny is my kind of guy who always makes me laugh with his zeal for churning out popular lines. Nonetheless, I was very sad about what I heard and saw on UTV that fateful day. It sent a message to the whole world about how some people can work so hard to build their brands and end up damaging it by their actions. Even though they attempted to reconcile on live TV, they have still left us with an experience people may never forget.
I have learned some lessons I want us to explore together. By the end of this write-up, feel free to share any other lesson you may have learned from this episode of life to instruct us to guard against our actions that may damage what we have built.
How To Damage Your Brand
Below are actions by both Lil Win and Funny Face that can damage a hard-won brand.
#1. Anger: Control Displaying Your Anger In Public
Both Lil and Funny displayed utter anger on the show to the point that Bull Dog and the counselor on the show had to cool them down or they would have traded blows. Funny Face was very angry because he felt Lil Win was insulting him and downplaying his ability to act.
However we look at it, this anger is not good. You cannot be a role model and lose your anger in public. What should the children and fans learn from them? It goes for all of us. We must control our anger. Some people can express anger through the use of social media and regret later. I have seen how some people can lose their anger due to what someone commented on their post. King Solomon said that “Whoever has no rule over his spirit is like a city broken down, without walls” (Proverbs 25:28). Uncontrolled anger can damage your brand.
#2. Insult: Never Insult Someone In Public
Another way Lil Win and Funny Face displayed possible damage to their brands was about trading insults. Anger almost always goes with insult. An angry man may find it very difficult to express his thoughts without insulting someone.
Some people find it very easy to insult other people. They feel the other person deserves it. They feel what they did merits insults. We must rather learn to speak our mind and feelings without insulting other people. Seriously people who insult in public are less respected. The late Nelson Mandela said that we can always make our point without shouting. And to add, without insulting. Let’s guard our talk not to veer into insults.
#3. Criticism: Never Criticise Someone For What They Have Achieved
Another issue was that Lil Win felt that Funny Face did not deserve the award so he was justified to criticize him. Interesting! But he forgot that for any award he has also picked up, someone somewhere felt he didn’t deserve it.
At one point or another, you might think that something needs to come to you instead of the one who received it. Thus, we are prone to criticize them for getting it. Some of us criticize the rich for their money. Some even criticize a man for the woman they are in a relationship with. Let’s always remember that sometimes we win and other times we lose.
How To Protect Your Brand
In my write-up on If I Were Joe Mettle, I shared that when Patience Nyarko made unfortunate comments about Joe Mettle, Joe kept his cool for things to unfold. He never muted a word. There are so much wisdom and tact in that.
To protect your brand from destruction, we have to learn to know when to speak and when not to speak. For many ‘celebrities’, it is better for them not to speak than to speak. They are like the Psalmist, when they speak, they are for war. No amount of water from the fire service can quench their anger. Few others have protected their brand by knowing when to speak in interviews without bashing others and causing controversies. I am learning that to protect my brand, it is not everything I must comment on. Don’t speak when you are not called. And even when you are called don’t insult and accuse someone. The Apostle James counsels us that we must be quick to hear but slow to speak.
There are always lessons we can learn from people. Lil Win and Funny Face have taught us through this unfortunate clash that there are actions that can damage what we have spent years to build. We must guard against them.
