Rachel Parrish’s TikTok channel is usually full of videos on “What a Publicist Thinks” or behind-the-scenes looks at various events she attends as a sports marketer.
But early on the morning of July 15, the PR pro and owner of Rae Christine Agency posted a video that was a little different. She was in Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League and went clubbing with a friend. After an after-party breakfast, she started filming a video sharing her thoughts on fashion at the club.
@raechristine___ Don’t get me wrong. I value feeling good, but I don’t think a club is the right place for that 😅😭😂 #lasvegas #fyp #nightlife #clubbing ♬ Original sound – Rae Christine
“(The video) was so far out of my niche,” Parrish told PR Daily. She admits she broke her most important rule for merging personal and professional online presences: Don’t act like you’re in a group chat. She figured the video would be seen by a few hundred people at most and would get a few comments.
But the video she posted that morning in Vegas has received 20 million views and 70,000 comments.
“I don’t know what’s happening with club culture, but girls don’t wear heels in clubs anymore,” the now infamous video begins. “And as a 34-year-old – I know I don’t look my age – but do we have to come out of retirement as 34-year-olds and teach girls how to wear heels?”
To prove her point, later in the video she shows a full-body photo of her outfit. She looks like a woman who has been out all night at the club – makeup a little worn, eyelashes a little curled. She’s wearing a light green mini dress by Fashion Nova and a pair of chunky white sandals by Michael Kors.
While they do indeed have a high heel, they may not be what you’d expect when you hear club shoes. You’re hosting brunch. You’re hosting a church picnic. Maybe not a flashy nightclub in Las Vegas.
The internet immediately pounced on Parrish, with many attacking her for her fashion sense, her comments about not looking her age, and more.
Parrish is no stranger to social media crises and general nastiness. She helped launch online brand Jake from State Farm and was with the Chicago Red Stars after systematic abuse was uncovered on the women’s soccer team.
But for the first time, she was at the center of the controversy and not the one who resolved the situation.
That’s how she mastered it.
Dealing with comments
Parrish stopped reading the comments almost immediately.
“I think I was extremely prepared for an experience like that because I have a very healthy boundary when it comes to social media and I immediately realized that people weren’t talking to a person. I quickly became the ‘green dress girl,'” she said. “And so I didn’t take anything personally, but I had to come to terms with the fact that there was a narrative out there that was attached to me.”
But while she protected herself from the malice, she still had to plan her next move.
To do this, she went through a checklist to determine whether or not it was a real crisis. The first point was: What is the question here? Was her integrity or her personality being questioned, or was it part of a larger social commentary? The answer to that was no: They were undermining her fashion sense. The second question was: Are people close to her offended by this? For Parrish, that was her parents, her nieces and nephews on TikTok, her close friends. Again, the answer was no.
“So I knew that in order to take action, I just needed to know the science of social media and how to know when to respond, understand the nuances of people’s reactions and do community management,” Parrish said.
Many commenters urged Parrish to delete her video, which can be a strong instinct in the midst of a social media crisis. But Parrish rejected that idea.
“I knew that if I deleted the video, even though it was already out there, people would still come to my page and flood all the other good content that I have,” she said. “And then that would just be lost.”
So Parrish left the video hanging and waited for the right moment.
The right moment
Parrish waited a full week before making a follow-up video. And there was a very specific reason for that.
She wanted to get paid.
To make money from a video on TikTok, you need to have 10,000 followers. Parrish watched her follower count grow from 3,100 to the required number.
“I would at least like to get paid to make fun of me,” she joked. She now has almost 45,000 followers.
When she finally released her follow-up video, she went back to her core brand: “What a PR Agent Thinks,” and refocused on who she really is and what her channel stands for. In the nearly 6-minute video, she speaks unscripted, the infamous green dress hanging on the wall behind her – a conscious decision to lean into the brand.
@raechristine___ I’m still trying to make sense of it all but I want to thank the people who have been sending me messages of support! #girlinthegreendress #greendress #greendressgirl #girlinthegreendress ♬ Original sound – Rae Christine
“When I come on screen and say, ‘I’m Green Dress Girl,’ and you automatically see the green dress and heels behind me, you have that brand association,” she said. “Then it was just a little bit of playfulness. I don’t hide it. I’m not afraid of it.”
In the video, Parrish reaffirmed who she was, what she did, and how she was working to humanize herself beyond her meme status. She mentioned the support she had and that she weathered the criticism well. Many of the memes and videos were hilarious, even if some were hurtful. But the comments on this video, which has 2 million views, were extremely positive.
“She’s an icon. She’s a legend. And she IS the moment!” crows the top comment.
“You’re a queen for coming back. I would hide under a rock for 60 business days,” reads another.
The result
The intense attention has drawn media coverage from around the world, including articles in USA Today and Newsweek. She has been a guest on the TMZ podcast and is interested in appearing on a talk show. Someone even wants to write a song about Green Dress Girl.
“Every day I open my email and find something new. Then I say to my family, ‘I can’t believe this is real life,'” she said.
But the noise is starting to die down. Parrish’s channel has returned to her “What a Publicist Thinks” roots, offering plenty of reaction to women’s sports at the Olympics.
“Although this is a moment and obviously a defining moment for my brand, it’s not my full brand and I don’t want to be defined as a green dress girl,” she said. “I would love for people to define me as Rae Christine having a viral moment.”
For others who may be experiencing a viral moment, Parrish has some advice.
“If you find yourself being the main character of the day, take a deep breath and ask yourself what the question is, and act accordingly when you have the answer. Also, try not to be the main character of the day,” she said, laughing.
