How Brooklyn could torpedo the family brand

Sir David and Lady Beckham’s son Brooklyn accused them of putting the “Beckham brand” first while building their global image and business empire. His sudden statement threatens to disrupt their public reputations and their private lives.

“We tried to give our children the most natural upbringing possible,” David said in his documentary, which will be released on Netflix in 2023, as he was shown in Brooklyn inspecting his cooking.

“But you have a father who was England captain and a mother who was Posh Spice.”

David went on to say how proud he was, and “so in awe of my children and the way they have turned out” – noting that his family had withstood the pressures of fame.

In hindsight, the clip seems like a warning about how difficult this can be.

And while David’s feelings were certainly sincere, viewers may also wonder how much was said and done for the benefit of the cameras.

This documentary and subsequent series about Victoria were produced by Beckham’s own production company, meaning they were ultimately in control of the story being told.

This is part of the strategy that has seen them remain famous by protecting their public image while growing their global fame and empire. With an estimated value of 500 million pounds sterling.

In addition to being the most famous couple, Victoria has built her career as a fashion designer, and David has business interests ranging from clothing to health supplements.

The brand received perhaps the ultimate accolade when David was knighted by the King last year.

“They are the non-royal royalty of our celebrity culture, and people have invested in them and their brand for the past 25 years or more,” says entertainment journalist Carolyn Frost.

But their documentaries, social media feeds and interviews reveal a carefully curated version of their family life.

And they remain steadfast on their message when the Beckhams weather any scandals and storms, of which there have been a few – from his alleged affairs, to embarrassing leaked emails about not being knighted sooner, to the controversy over his role as ambassador for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The biggest threat to the Beckham family’s brand could now come from their eldest child, who… Explosive function “It tore her up inside,” Frost told BBC Radio 5 Live.

After months of rumors of a feud, 26-year-old Brooklyn Peltz Beckham claimed that his family “values ​​public promotion and endorsements above all else”, and that protecting the brand has gone so far as to go so far.

“Brand Beckham comes first,” he wrote. “Family ‘love’ is determined by how much we post on social media, or how quickly we drop everything to show up and take a family photo, even if it comes at the expense of our professional obligations.”

He also wrote, “My whole life, my parents controlled newspaper narratives about our family. Performative social media posts, family events, and inauthentic relationships were an essential part of the life I was born into.”

David and Victoria did not respond directly to Brooklyn’s public grievances.

The Beckhams have been “incredibly talented at controlling their own narrative publicly,” and the brand has strong foundations, according to Celebrity Crisis PR Lauren Beeching.

“The Peckham name is considered business architecture, not just a title at this point, and I would say the architecture is very strong.

“The Beckhams have decades of goodwill, global recognition and a fan base that spans generations, and their recent Netflix documentaries have achieved massive global success and reinforced that stable, emotionally controlled and lovable image of the family.”

However, the feud with Brooklyn will cause pain both personally and professionally, Beeching believes.

He added: “The Beckhams are very protective of their brand, so this is going to be very stressful for them because it goes against everything they’re trying to stand for, which is basically a united family front.”

Over the past 30 years, the Beckhams have navigated a media landscape that has gone from tabloid frenzy to social media free-for-all, so the instinct to protect their image is perhaps understandable.

But some believe they are reaping the consequences of putting their family in the spotlight for the sake of the brand.

Marina Hyde of The Guardian said Brooklyn has been “commodified” since before he was born, with his parents selling images and stories since Victoria’s pregnancy.

But Hyde added that his parents improved their media strategy as he got older. “Over time, David and Victoria acquired more sophisticated consultants who recognized the potential for rapid transformation of image and brand control, and built a vast and diverse empire behind it.”

However, others point out that Brooklyn is spoiled, has capitalized on the family name himself, and shouldn’t be posting on social media about his desire for privacy.

Tom Power, author of the 2024 biography Pete Beckham, sympathizes with Brooklyn and is not convinced by the image of his parents.

“The Beckhams are a fake family,” he told 5 Live. “It’s a family brand, and it’s been very successful…

“The truth is that they are not a happy family. They are a commercial product, and it has earned them a fortune, but the victims are their children.”

However, journalist Hadley Freeman, author of a 2006 biography of Victoria Beckham, says in her experience that they were “incredibly kind, incredibly involved with their children, and extremely loving as a family.”

“At the same time, there’s this problem with some celebrities, which is that they’re addicted to their fame, they’re addicted to the way people look at them,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“It’s not hard to imagine what it’s like to be in that situation and feel a little exploited at times, and see the disparity between what’s posted on social media and reality.”

Brooklyn has now joined another lineage – his wife Nicola Peltz is the daughter of American billionaire businessman Nelson Peltz.

He’s launching his own career, publishing a book on photography in 2017, and launching his own line of hot sauce in 2024. But Brooklyn is struggling to build her own brand.

“He’s been described as an illegitimate child, cashing in on the Beckham name; a chef one minute, a photographer the next, moving between jobs,” says Beeching.

“Fair or not, that’s the reputation he has now. I’m sure they want to build their own power couple image. But I think the Beckhams have a much more visible PR.”

Peltz similarly began her career as an actress and director. But having Beckham take her husband’s surname means David and Victoria no longer have full control over how the name is used.

We may or may not find out more about what’s really going on behind the scenes. Given their previous form, David and Victoria will likely try to keep calm and move on.

“I think this is the biggest challenge yet,” Frost says.

“Of course, they will continue. They are the Beckhams. They are too rich to fail. They have too many followers to fail. They have fashion industries, they have many legs to lift this table. But it is a big challenge, that’s for sure.”