Robin Thicke‘s ploy to get his estranged wife, Paula Patton, to return to him has hit a speed bump, commercially speaking. The singer’s latest album, a self-described declaration of love titled Paula, entered the Official UK Chart earlier this week at Number 200, after shifting just 530 copies total.
After splitting from his wife of nine years in February, Thicke started on a public crusade to win back her love that began with a performance of his new single, the brooding Get Her Back, at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards, and recently culminated in an ill-fated and ill-advised Twitter Q&A.
In a move similar to fellow R&B singer R Kelly‘s misguided Twitter Q&A last year, Thicke agreed to field questions about his forthcoming album, but was instead inundated with criticisms regarding his controversial 2013 hit single, Blurred Lines, which many perceived as an anthem celebrating rape.
As The Guardian reports, Thicke’s all-time-low public image has resulted in a considerable drop-off in sales from his previous album, also titled Blurred Lines. That album sold 25,981 copies in its first week. If Thicke’s sales continue on this path, his next album will sell approximately 10 copies.
Sales aren’t great back in Thicke’s homeland either, with Paula managing to move just 25,000 copies in the US in its first week, which is down from the 177,000 units shifted by Blurred Lines in its first week. Paula‘s lacklustre sales may go to show that there really is such a thing as bad publicity.
Watch: Robin Thicke – Get Her Back
