I love One Direction more than myself but WHAT was that 10th anniversary? I had awoken my obsession for One Direction only to be given a POINTLESS WEBSITE? Cool. Glad I paid for your HOUSES BOYS! Hope that car you drive runs smoothly!
I feel the need to put a disclaimer before you read. I understand that the members of One Direction were not happy oftentimes while in One Direction. I would never wish for Zayn or any of the other boys to feel the way they did while in One Direction. That being said, I am a greedy and “but what-if” person, so all of these ideas are hypothetical and in no way, am I wishing harm on any of the boys.
Anyway, I am a PR major, and I just really think they could’ve done better, especially from a marketing/PR standpoint. It would’ve been so simple, so easy, even my pea-sized brain thought of seven ideas they could’ve done to make their 10-year anniversary actually worth something.
- Literally Anything.
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No hate on One Direction, but FOR REAL??? I’ve dedicated my whole middle and high school life to you wee fellows, but now I dedicate my 20s to you guys to get a WEBSITE?
We want merchandise! We want interactions between the boys! We want CONTENT! I mean, Zayn didn’t even tweet. I understand the One Direction was hard for him and I completely respect that, but One Direction gave them amazing opportunities they all have today and for that, they should all be grateful. And they have some pretty *hint* dedicated *hint* fans *hint* that are craving *hint* the literal crumbs off your biscuits.
- 1D Day 2.0
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Never, EVER forget the iconic day that was November 23, 2013. Seven (almost… they had some technical difficulties) uninterrupted hours of One Direction content, videos and album teasers. That day was truly an iconic day in history. My cousin and I even wrote up contracts our parents had to sign saying that they 1) wouldn’t bother us 2) wouldn’t ask us to do anything and 3) to keep my little sister out of the room (they complied). The OG 1D Day almost crashed the internet completely, imagine if they had a SECOND ONE? Ugh, one can dream.
But in all seriousness, One Direction missed out on a golden (ily Harry) opportunity by not having another 1D Day. I understand we are in a panini press, but they still could’ve done it. They could’ve Zoomed, put them in plastic bubbles (Live While We’re Young music video vibes), or made them quarantine. Hell, they could’ve brought only Harry, Niall, Liam and Louis and it would’ve claimed one of my nine hypothetical cat lives. But regardless of doing it for the fans, they could’ve turned it into a COVID Relief Donation Program or a donation fund for struggling musicians/tour members. Fans could donate simply out of the kindness of their hearts, or they could’ve made it fun and every time a certain donation marker is checked off, the boys had to do something weird or stupid. I remember Liam fighting that random WWE wrestler during the first 1D Day… that didn’t make sense either. The donations they could’ve raised would’ve broken records AND saved lives, I’m convinced.
- Release New OLD Music and Music Videos
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Okay, they did give us three “new” songs, but to be honest, “Magic” was the only song I hadn’t heard via Tumblr in 2012, or whenever people would leak songs left and right. I don’t know who figured out how to do that but thank you, and please delete student loans next, please and thank you.
Nothing made me madder though than when their main account or someone tweeted that they would be releasing new music videos. Well, they played us with the wording. Technically, they were “new” videos, but they really weren’t. They re-released their old music videos, but instead of being filmed on an iPhone XS, they filmed it with the iPhone 32 (not yet released). Like, thank you! Now I can be sad about One Direction being on a break (I will not stop believing this is a break don’t even try to convince me otherwise) while watching them in 4D! Thank you, management! So hip on the 411 of what these darn millennials are wanting *eyes rolling to the back of my head*.
- Had a Website with an Actual Purpose Other Than To ~Occupy~ Fans
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I will give you props, Mr. One Direction management person (no way a woman would come up with such a deceiving concept). You had us all tuned in. We were sitting there, refreshing that website like it was a college acceptance status update.
And you got us, you really got us. You had us believe that this website wouldn’t be a joke. You got us, we were all clowns in your twisted circus. It had potential, though. It really could’ve been cool. It just wasn’t 10th anniversary worthy.
- Unseen BTS Videos
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You’re trying to tell me there isn’t hundreds of hundreds of video footage of those European fools messing around? Suuuuure. Yeah, okay. Don’t be shy, management, release the footage. It’s very greedy to keep holding onto those videos for your own personal enjoyment! I pay your bills (essentially)! Help a sister out!
If every link on that stupid website had unseen footage, not just unheard stories, there would be a million TikToks of people crying. All we want is to see the boys as if everything was the way it was when the “Best Song Ever” music video came out.
- A Video Montage of Them/Their Tour Crew Saying ‘Thank You’ to the Fans
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Look at me in the eyes and tell me you don’t want to see Lou and Lux Teasdale (If you don’t know who they are… educate yourself, then come back) saying “thank you” to you. That’s right, YOU CAN’T! Imagine what the internet would’ve done had the band and the tour crew joined one Zoom call, interacted and caught up a little, and then every single one of them says “Thank You” as in a thank you to the fans for supporting them for so long. Would that have been so hard?
All you have to do is hit “record” on the Zoom call, edit the footage to make a cute little montage of whatever shenanigans take place during the call, and then edit together the thank you’s. SIMPLE! The hardest part of planning would be getting everyone on the same call at one time.
- A Zoom Call People Could’ve Paid to Watch
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So, I would pay $50 (hypothetically…) to not only see One Direction again on my computer, but they would also interact with people and potentially me? Sold. Done deal. I’d sell my sister for that deal (sorry, Eleanor). And like I said with the 1D Day 2.0, they could’ve donated money to COVID relief or struggling musicians, and people would’ve paid ANYTHING! And having an event like this that you can publicize creates more opportunities to make money to donate.
I feel like I speak for most fans when I say, wow. Just wow. I know One Direction tried their best (or I hope they did) but, I mean, they do keep it classy. They stay giving us nothing and we stay expecting more. Stay Golden, One Direction.