Comeback (publicity)
A comeback, in terms of publicity, is a return by a well-known person to the activity in which they initially obtained their fame. Comebacks can occur in all walks of life, and have been noted to occur in entertainment, sports, and politics.
A comeback may occur after a public figure has been forced to withdraw from the public eye due to a real or perceived scandal.
Entertainment
An entertainer may make a comeback after having been absent from their area of entertainment for a time.
In South Korea, Comeback (K-pop), talent agencies stage-manage the debut of new acts in order to create anticipation for the new act, which will often officially debut live on one of the main television music programs with a "debut stage". For the debut single, acts will have an overall "concept", a marketing hook, which influences the name of the act, clothes, choreography, catch phrases and how they are presented; within bands individual members will have a personal concept, this being a role that they will play within the band, e.g. leader, visual, maknae, rapper etc. Once a rookie act's debut cycle has ended they enter their second promotional cycle with a "comeback", called as such even when the musician or group in question did not go on hiatus.[1] Each promotional cycle will be presented with its own concept.
Sports
In sports, a comeback occurs where an athlete or a team returns to success after a period of poor performance or inactivity. "The comeback may be the most compelling phenomenon in sports. ... Comebacks in individual sports like tennis, boxing, or golf occur more commonly than in team sports, as athletes in these games have more control over their destiny".[2]
Politics
A politician may make a comeback after having left public life, either voluntarily or through loss of an election.[3]
References
- ^ Ramstad, Evan. "Korea Counts Down Not Just To New Year, But to New Girls' Album". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 6 June 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
One of the unique things about album releases by K-pop artists is that they are routinely called 'comebacks' even when there's been no evidence that the musician or group went away or, in the conventional sports usage of the term, experienced a setback or loss.
- ^ Rick Swaine, Baseball's Comeback Players: Forty Major Leaguers Who Fell and Rose Again (2014), p. 1.
- ^ See Shlomit Barnea, "Chronicles of the Comeback that Was and the One that Almost Was", in Asher Arian, Michal Shamir, The Elections in Israel 2009 (2011), p. 146-147.