The Jonas Brothers’ Postponed Tour is a Crash Course in How Not To Handle PR
The Jonas Brothers have postponed their European tour until the autumn, and a lot of fans are frustrated.
Unless you’ve been actively avoiding pop culture over the last few weeks, it’s been hard to shy away from the controversial decision taken by the Jonas Brothers to postpone their anticipated European tour. Joe, Nick, and Kevin announced in a statement that they were rescheduling dates due to “exciting projects.” – a vague statement that has left fans divided.
So, what’s actually happened?
Speaking on social media, the trio said, “We have shifted the European dates to later this year and that is only because we have some exciting projects that we are excited to share with you at a later point. Our European fans, we love you and can’t wait to see you. It’s been long overdue and we are so excited to play these shows later this year in the fall. So make sure to hold on to your tickets. We will have more information to come, but we cannot wait to see you. Thank you for all your support over all these years.”
Making the announcement just weeks before they were due to start the tour, the dates have now been moved to September and October. Crucially, they failed to mention what those exciting projects were, leaving fans confused, angry, and out of pocket.
In the wake of the announcement, fans stormed social media to discuss what they thought about this decision and many were more than upset. Calling the brothers out on the shambolic announcement, it’s a blinding crash course in how not to handle a sticky PR situation.
The Effect on Fans
This announcement directly affected me as I have tickets to several of their UK shows and it goes without saying that they could have handled it better. Unfortunately, when you buy concert tickets you do have to think of the risk of it being postponed or cancelled. However, there are ways for artists to do this in a heartfelt way and I don’t think the Jonas Brothers did it greatly.
In today’s day and age, going to a show isn’t just a simple one-ticket purchase. It often requires transport, time off work, alternative arrangements to make travelling to a show work, and occasionally, an overnight stay. Concerts are expensive, and for young people, the financial hit of an announcement like this is huge. In their short, casually filmed video, the Jonas Brothers didn’t seem to acknowledge this.
I completely understand postponing a tour would not have been a light decision for them and their team. But more effort could have been made, and most importantly, the announcement could have felt more sincere. I mean hell, what about actually sharing the reason that the shows had to be postponed? A wishy-washy “exciting projects” excuse doesn’t make fans feel appreciated or seen in this scenario, and that’s proving to be damaging to their reputation.
Regardless of the backlash and my personal opinions on the matter, I will still be attending the dates I’ve paid for. Thankfully, I’m fortunate enough to be free on the rescheduled dates. I just hope that after the upset and anger this announcement has caused amongst their fanbase, the Jonas Brothers think more logically and empathetically next time they need to make a big statement.
What do you think about the Jonas Brothers’ situation? Will you still be attending the tour?
