What a publicist thinks about weathering a viral controversy as ‘Green Dress Girl’
Rachel Parrish tells PR Daily about how she branded herself and bounced back from internet infamy.
Usually, Rachel Parrish’s TikTok channel is stocked with videos about “What a publicist thinks” or behind-the-scenes at various events she attends as a sports marketer.
But early on the morning of July 15, the PR professional and owner of Rae Christine Agency posted a video that was a little different. She was in Las Vegas for the NBA summer league and went out clubbing with a friend. After eating a post-party breakfast, she began filming a video sharing her thoughts on fashion at the club.
@raechristine___ Don’t get me wrong I believe in being comfortable but I don’t think the club is the place for that 😅😭😂 #lasvegas #fyp #nightlife #clubbing ♬ original sound – Rae Christine
“(The video) was so outside of my niche,” Parrish told PR Daily. She admits that she broke her number one rule for merging personal and professional presences online: don’t act like you’re in the group chat. She assumed the video might be seen by a few hundred people and garner a few comments, max.
But the video she posted that Vegas morning has garnered 20 million views and 70,000 comments.
“I don’t know what’s happening to club culture, but the girlies are not wearing heels in the clubs anymore,” the now-infamous video starts. “And as a 34-year-old – I know I don’t look my age – but as a 34-year-old, do we need to come out of retirement and teach the girls how to wear heels?”
Later in the video, to prove her point, she reveals a full-body shot of her outfit. She looks like a woman who’s been out clubbing all night – makeup a bit worn away, eyelashes a bit off. She wears a bright green minidress from Fashion Nova and a pair of chunky white Michael Kors sandal heels.
While they do indeed have a tall heel, they maybe aren’t what you’d expect when you hear club shoes. They’re giving brunch. They’re giving church picnic. Maybe not flashy Vegas nightclub.
The internet immediately tore into Parrish, many of them attacking Parrish for her fashion sense, her quip about not looking her age and more.
Parrish is well-versed in social media crises and general nastiness. She helped launch the online brand of Jake from State Farm and was with the Chicago Red Stars after systematic abuse was revealed on the women’s soccer team.
But for the first time, she became the center of the controversy rather than the fixer.
This is how she navigated it.
Handling the comments
Parrish stopped reading the comments almost right away.
“I think I was uniquely prepared for an experience like this just because I have a very healthy boundary when it comes to social media and I recognized right away that people weren’t talking to a person. I quickly became ‘Green Dress Girl,’” she said. “And so, with that I didn’t take anything personally, but I did have to navigate that there was a narrative out there attached to me.”
But even as she protected herself from the vitriol, she still had to chart her next move.
To do that, she went through a checklist to determine whether or not this was a true crisis. The first item was asking what is the question here? Were they questioning her integrity or who she was as a person or was she part of a greater social commentary? The answer to that was no: they were stunting on her fashion sense. The second question was, are the people close to you offended by it? For Parrish, that meant her parents, her nieces and nephews on TikTok, her close friends. Again, the answer was no.
“So, then I knew my appropriate action just had to fall within knowing the science of social media and how to kind of navigate when the right time to respond was, understanding the nuance of people in responding and community management,” Parrish said.
Many commenters urged Parrish to delete her video, which can be a strong instinct in the midst of a social media crisis. But Parrish rejected that idea.
“I knew if I got rid of the video, even though it was out there, people would still be coming to my page and they would flood all the other good content that I have,” she said. “And then that would just be lost.”
So, Parrish kept the video up and bided her time.
The right moment
Parrish waited a full week to create a follow-up video. And there was a very specific reason for that.
She wanted to get paid.
In order to monetize a video on TikTok, you must have 10,000 followers. Parrish watched as her follower count grew from 3,100 to the required number.
“I would just like to at least get paid to get made fun of,” she joked. She now has nearly 45,000 followers.
When she did finally post her follow-up video, she went back to her core brand: “What a publicist thinks,” recentering who she truly is and what her channel stands for. She speaks without a script in the almost 6-minute-long video, the infamous green dress hanging from the wall behind her – an intentional choice to lean into the branding.
@raechristine___ I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it all, but I do want to thank people who have sent supportive messages! #girlinthegreendress #greendress #greendressgirl #girlinthegreendress ♬ original sound – Rae Christine
“When I come on screen and I say, ‘I’m Green Dress Girl,’ and you automatically see the green dress and the heels behind me, you have that that brand association,” she said. “Then it was just a little bit of playfulness. I’m not hiding it. I’m not afraid of it.”
In the video, Parrish restated who she was, what she did and worked to humanize herself beyond her meme status. She noted the support she’s had and that she’s weathered the criticism just fine. That many of the memes and videos were hilarious, even if some were hurtful. But the comments on that video, which has 2 million views, were extremely positive.
“She’s an icon. She’s a legend. And she IS the moment!” the top comment crows.
“You’re a queen for coming back, I’d be hiding under a rock for 60 business days,” another reads.
The outcome
The intense attention has attracted media hits from around the world, including articles in USA Today and Newsweek. She was a guest on the TMZ podcast and has had interest in appearing on a talk show. Someone even wants to write a song about Green Dress Girl.
“Every day I open up my email and it’s something new and I say to my family, ‘I can’t believe this is real life,’” she said.
But the noise has begun to die down. Parrish’s channel has returned to her “What a publicist thinks” roots, with plenty of reactions to women’s sports at the Olympics.
“While this is a moment and obviously a defining moment within my brand, it’s not my full brand and I don’t want to be defined as Green Dress Girl,” she said. “I would love for people to define me as Rae Christine, who had a viral moment.”
For others who might have a viral moment, Parrish has some advice.
“If you find yourself as the main character of the day, take a breath first, and ask yourself what is at question here and after you have that answer, act accordingly. Also, try not to be the main character of the day,” she said with a laugh.
It’s sad that people can’t disagree with another person’s opinions without yelling.
This was insightful and a bold move.