When looking for a feel-good, self-empowering, catchy track, Meghan Trainor is your girl. Beginning with her single “All About That Bass,” she has never failed to produce a jam that you and your girls (or boys) can rock out to in the car or at your cousin’s bar mitzvah. A few weeks back, Trainor released her video for “Me Too,” which, like most of her other songs, focuses on being confident. With the release of the song came a music video that definitely stirred up some controversy -- mostly with Trainor herself.
In the video, Meghan is seen doing quirky things that the viewer would believe Meghan does off camera in her everyday life including modeling a giraffe onesie, hanging out with her friends and playing with an adorable puppy. I do believe Meghan does these things, with the exception that there is no camera crew following shortly behind her. One section that seems a little out of the norm, but adds to the music video feel, is a dance sequence that happens in an all blue room featuring Meghan and her dancers all in blue attire. After the video first premiered, Trainor immediately ordered that the video be removed. The reason? Meghan’s waist had been altered to appear smaller in the editing process in this dance sequence. Meghan is an advocate for self-love, and having a modified body in a music video does not seem like something she would present to her fans. Trainor claimed to be embarrassed that this fiasco even happened. The video was removed from YouTube, and was re-uploaded the next day.
Ironically, the song is about loving yourself, and the reason the video was pulled was because Meghan was not content with how she appeared in the video. I appreciate Meghan Trainor, her music and what she stands for, but part of me believes that this situation had a mastermind behind it to create a publicity stunt for the video. To be honest, I didn’t even know the video came out until the gossip started popping up all over my social media. By the time I could figure out what all the talk was about, the original video had disappeared, and I was watching the new, unaltered version. Since it’s May 10 re-release, it has over 34 million views, and the total will just keep climbing because of Meghan Trainor’s knack for making tunes that you can’t get out of your head. I’ve seen the video three times myself, and I am sure I will be visiting the page many times because this song is the perfect summer anthem.
Whether or not it was all a publicity stunt will forever be unknown, but honestly, I’m not mad. Without all of the drama, I would have been clueless to this song’s existence until about mid-July when I speculate it will be playing non-stop on the radio. I wholeheartedly believe that Meghan is genuine in her intentions to take down the video and revert it back to its original form because her brand relies on positive self-image. Speculators can continue toying with the idea that it was all a ploy to gain views and popularity, but whatever the case is, I am excited to have a new song to add to my playlist.
