Clarkson's Farm Store Scandal Shows the Power of Celebrity Statements: Expert

Clarkson's viral dispute with Brooklyn's Art of Play over a singing bird automaton prompts PR experts to weigh the risks and opportunities.

Kelly Clarkson fights Brooklyn art store over $15,000 bird

Kelly Clarkson's recent headline-grabbing feud has PR experts saying the viral attention poses risks for the store, but could also create an opportunity if it handles the backlash well.

Over the weekend, Clarkson called out the Art of Play, a Brooklyn store known for its assortment of unique toys, games, books, puzzles and other items, about her inability to purchase Molly, a one-of-a-kind singing and dancing flying machine.

"Just drove all the way to Brooklyn to check out this store, I thought it looked really cool and had a few things in mind to buy and literally felt like I couldn't afford it and was told she could find me something comparable," Clarkson wrote.

"Wow dude. You're an idiot and you've lost a huge sale," he continued.

Kelly Clarkson slams Brooklyn store for treatment of 'beautiful woman'

Clarkson then compared the encounter to a memorable scene from the 1990 film Pretty Woman, in which Julia Roberts' character Vivian Ward is fired by a boutique salesperson who thinks she can't afford the store's clothes.

Clarkson added: "But if you enjoy acting like Julia Roberts' character in 'Pretty Woman,' you should see Acting in Brooklyn. Sure, see it."

The singer's description of the incident echoed the famous scene in "Pretty Woman," in which Vivienne returns to the boutique after being passed over and tells the salesperson, "Big mistake. Big, big mistake."

"He's usually into private drama and not public drama like this," a source told People.

He's clearly too confused to keep quiet about it. Everyone is surprised at how escalated this whole thing is."

Art of Play posted a response to Clarkson's original message on social media, claiming that "8 million people" bombarded them with hateful messages following the singer's accusations.

"Imagine our surprise when our small local business was suddenly attacked by 8 million people who had never visited our store. It's a surreal experience to be the focus of such widespread outrage after a single mention by a celebrity. We thank all our friends for their support and welcome all the curious people who discovered us in the midst of the drama. We keep our heads down and hopefully one day we can all clear things up with Kelly. As a popular singer once said, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," the store posted on its Instagram page Sunday afternoon.

Eldridge continued, "Regardless of which side you believe, Winston Churchill's famous quip has proven true: 'A lie goes halfway around the world before the truth has its pants on in the morning.'

After the store's Instagram post, Clarkson took to her X account and Instagram Stories on Sunday afternoon to respond to their claims.

"Cool, cool. Definitely not for sale. This is the narrative that the art of the game will go with," Clarkson wrote, adding a thumbs-up emoji.

"So the whole conversation we had when I asked you if it was for sale while pointing at the price tag hanging on the wall titled Songbird didn't happen because the elevator guy looked at me and said condescendingly, 'Yes, it's for sale, but it's $15,000, so if you want anything I can't compare, I can't find anything,'" the singer continued. Okay, so you're not only rude, you're also a liar.

Clarkson added: "And by the way, I obviously support small businesses because I was literally in a small business trying to buy things. I love small businesses and I know they're important and I always support them, but you don't get a free pass to treat people less than your store just because you're a small business. It's not that hard to be kind.

WATCH: Kelly Clarkson's social media hype could be 'devastating', says expert

"I think it can have two effects, right? The first effect is you've seen people take up the banner in his name and you see people post bad comments or obviously there's a lot of comments. So, there's a negative that can have an effect. He has a lot of social power. He has 40 million followers and he's participating on social media and he's commenting, I think you can comment. Devastating,” he began.

"But if I were to make a counter, the counter is that all good presses or good heat or negative heat or positive heat I think is good, and I think what the shop is doing with it right now can be very eventful for them," Aldebert continued.

Aldebert, who manages 1,000 people at her company, believes Clarkson should have taken her concerns about her behavior in the store to the owner of Art of Play before exposing the entire business on social media.

"If I'm working on this particular case on Monday morning, I'd say the first step you take is to contact the owner, see if it can be resolved. If, obviously, it's seen as something that they're just going to blow it off or they're being rude too, then I can see, at least you wait. You have a great weapon which is your social media presence. And then if necessary, take that step. But I would have liked that step in terms of contacting the owner. be removed."

WATCH: Expert Says Kelly Clarkson Should Have Called Store Owner Before Posting

Aldebert believes that the small store in Brooklyn can turn this press nightmare into a positive and profitable move for their business.

“It could be as simple as that, and again, you know, we're just taking a few guesses as to what I'm going to do about it, but pictures with the bird. Why not charge five bucks to do this? You know, make a bunch of t-shirts that are related to products like that."

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"Let's put them ahead. If it's The Bird, now people want to see it because, "Hey, they're not going to sell it to Kelly Clarkson. Are they going to sell it to me?" I would raise the price, Aldebert said: "There are different aspects that they can use to generate more revenue." And I hope they take action and maybe get more of those birds.

On Sunday, Art of Play took to social media to clarify "one more detail" about Clarkson's visit.

"During the 5 minutes he spent in the store, he inquired about our flying mechanical doll named Molly. We explained that while Molly is permanently attached to the wall and serves as a real mascot for our shop, an almost identical pen belongs to the creator of the machines. A clever sea artist named Kolb told us that he lives in Section B. With Molly's twin for $15,000 all this We explained to Kelly Clarkson.

We also offered to show him a different singing bird car, made by a traditional watchmaking shop in Germany, that he could take home with him that day. Its price is about 2000 dollars. He didn't stick around long enough to see it."

"We reached out to Kelly directly to clear the air," the outlet concluded. "We really wish him the best and hope that one day we can all laugh at this misunderstanding."

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