http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2223870/Bryan-Ferrys-son-Otis-faces-driving-ban-afetr-refusing-breath-test-insisting-just-pint-lunch.html

This might come across as contentious, but is this guy ever in the news for the right reasons?

I absolutely adore Bryan but that doesn't extend to the antics of Otis who rarely displays anything other than contempt for the law in this country.

Bryan has pretty much admitted that support for his son - which I wouldn't dream of questioning - has damaged him in the eyes of the public and I can't help wonder how much of this accounts for a marked decline in record sales. Bryan has also been quoted as saying "the poor lad just wants to live the traditional country life" - fine example of that in this news article. It seems obvious to me that his spell at HM's pleasure hasn't taught him much at all.

Otis is Otis and he lives his own life. Clearly his lifestyle is only tabloid news because his father is a famous Pop Star, but I doubt that BF's record sales bear any connection to OF's antics.

Must be coincidence then, but I know people who have declined to maintain their career-long BF record purchases / tour attendance in the last three years precisely on this very basis. I accept that might not be exactly representative but at the same time I think it's naieve to assume his behaviour doesn't have consequences for his father, after all, even BF acknowledged aspects of this have made him "unpopular".
I'm just dismayed it still goes on.

Maybe you're right. Some people might have acted as you suggest. Some people might also have seen in BF's support for his son (e.g. visiting him in prison) as a sign that BF is loyal to his children and that is something to be admired/respected.

My view is simply that BF would have experienced difficulties with sales/marketing of Olympia no matter what OF was up to in his life. At the margins OF's lifestyle may have had an impact on BF's career, but it seems to me it would have been of relatively minor significance.

I don't mind Otis. He has at least forged his own career and identity and has passions and interests that seem closer to his mother than his father. If you move in hunt or equestrian circles, he is a bit of a pin-up boy and he might have steered one or two towards Roxy Music.
His activities have, incidentally, made Bryan Ferry more political, something he had always fought against on the grounds he was an artist.

However, there is no excuse for driving drunk through the streets of London. A lot of Premier League footballers do it and I am amazed both at the arrogance of it and the fact that they, and Otis, can surely afford a taxi.