Screengrab via Buzzfeed
That's the question Masha Alekhina and Nadya Tolokonnikova, two members of the Russian art group Pussy Riot, were asked in their first joint TV interview after spending almost two years behind bars for performing an anti-Putin song in an Orthodox church.
If that seems like an insulting question, you're not alone. The interviewer, Ksenia Sobchak, included the preamble "You got out of prison famous and wealthy," and another abrupt question which was simply: "what's up with your eyebrows?" (you can see more from the controversial interview, expertly GIFed, at Buzzfeed).
Released as part of a dubious Putin-approved amnesty, Pussy Riot's time in Russia's notorious prison system was almost certainly extremely unpleasant - Tolokonnikova went "missing" in the vast prison network for weeks, and Alekhina says she had to endure forced gynecological examinations. The pair, understandably, appeared to find Sobchak's questions trivial in comparison, and their reactions alternated between bemusement and annoyance: "Asking provocative questions is totally unethical of you," Alekhina responded after being asked if she felt slighted by the press attention on the attractive Tolokonnikova.
Perhaps Sobchak's line of questioning sounds silly and unprofessional, but I'd argue it betrays something deeper. The son of Putin's mentor, Anatoly Sobchak, Ksenia Sobchak's successful TV career and glamorous lifestyle once earned her the title "Russia's answer to Paris Hilton" from The New York Times. For the last couple of years, however, she has aligned herself with the mainstream of Russia's anti-Putin opposition, getting arrested at protests and appearing in parodies of Putin campaign videos.
"Brand" might seem like a dirty word in politics, connoting empty politics and marketing exercises, but in the PR-obsessed world of Russian power - the one that Sobchak grew up in - it actually makes quite a lot of sense. The Kremlin's use of publicity stunts to present Putin as a strong, honest leader has been a clear domestic strategy, and the country spends huge amounts of money promoting itself abroad (the mysterious man thought to have been behind the PR-led system, Vladislav Surkov, has even been called the "real genius of the Putin era").
If you think of branding as identity politics, you can see why it matters so much. While the Russian opposition appeared to have some real support behind in after the disputed 2011 Duma elections, it ultimately failed to gain the kind of singular momentum required to really sustain it - the closest thing it produced to a unifying leader, anti-corruption activist lawyer Alexey Navalny, had a backstory of aggressive nationalism that makes him hard for international audiences to sympathize with. Without a clear narrative and facing strong opposition from the Kremlin, the opposition movement has found it tough to extend its message beyond urban centers. Put simply, their branding was screwed.
Contrast that to Pussy Riot. Since their arrest in early 2012, the group, once barely on the fringes of the Russian opposition movement, have become its most popular export. You can now buy Pussy Riot t-shirts on Amazon and the group's trademark neon balaclavas were co-opted in the Harmony Korine movie "Spring Breakers." There were even reports in the Russian press that a U.S. music company had offered the group around $700 million for a "world tour" - a ludicrous proposal when you consider the group are more of a performance art project than a "punk band" (they evolved out of underground anarchist art collective Voina, best known for holding an orgy to protest Dmitry Medvedev).
Some opposition leaders have clearly bristled at Pussy Riot's international notoriety (Navalny memorably dismissed them as "silly girls"). Sobchak's questions about their "brand" and in particular her comments about Tolokonnikova's appearance seem to imply their recognition is based on aesthetics and ultimately undeserved, but she's being unfair - the group's eloquence in court and sheer balsiness have lent them a credibility far beyond that of, say, FEMEN. The Pussy Riot message of feminism, anti-authoritarianism, and anti-capitalism is clearly potent.
Of course, it remains to be seen exactly what Alekhina and Tolokonnikova will do with their "brand," but today's announcement that they plan to launch a human rights organization for prisoners' rights seems an appropriate step. If handled correctly, however, the idea of Pussy Riot could really be priceless.