You
win some, and you lose some --
sometimes in a very big and public
way.
Those
of us in our seniority or fans of
rerun TV might recall WKRP's
classic publicity stunt:
Thanksgiving
shoppers in a department store
parking lot were pelted with
live turkeys dropped from a
hovering helicopter. ("I
didn't know turkeys couldn't
fly!" said a
dumbstruck radio marketing wiz.)
Talk about a PR bomb.
We
don't need to rely on sitcoms for
astonishing PR hits and misses.
The real world provides plenty,
thank you very much.
- Taco
Bell was
right on target when the
Russian space station Mir
dropped from the sky. The
company scored a media coup by
setting up a bulls-eye in the
Pacific Ocean with the Taco
Bell logo dead center,
offering a free taco for each
and every American if Mir
should hit the mark. Of course
the odds against having to
actually pay out were
astronomical (sorry). But the
media play on the stunt was
wide: network television, and
even a front-page
above-the-fold photo of the
Taco Bell target in my city
newspaper.
- New
Line Cinema received
some critical snorts for
plugging its release of the
drug-trafficking movie Blow
by handing out small mirrors
as a publicity gimmick. The
pocket-size mirrors, perfect
for restroom toots of cocaine,
did not reflect well on the
company as drug rehabilitators
blasted New Line for its bad
taste.
- A
Los Angeles bank
offered its customers $10 for
every bank error they ever
found in their accounts. This
appeal brought in 15-thousand
new customers and $65-million
in new deposits within two
months. Chances the bank would
have to pay a penny? Next to
nil. Publicity payoff?
Priceless.
- The
Walt Disney Company
once upon a time proposed
opening a Civil War theme park
in Manassas, Virginia.
Historians were shocked.
Locals were livid. Political
cartoonists had a field day
with Mickey pilloried on the
PR battlefield. Disney,
eventually and costly, bugled
retreat. Dumbo-size PR budgets
will not always spare you from
publicity blunders.
- A
Lithuanian distillery launched
a new brand of spirit sharing
a name with Russia's newest
president: Putin Vodka. The
company owners deny any link
of the vodka with Vladimir
Putin, even though the bottle
is emblazoned with the colors
of the Russian flag. The
distillery has received
tremendous publicity and is
getting even more attention
with every denial of the
Russian link.
- The
devil is in the denials, which
have long afflicted Procter
& Gamble to counter
decades of accusations that
the company is tied to
Satanism, and its discontinued
man-in-the-moon logo a demonic
tribute. P&G ultimately
filed suit against Amway,
the alleged source of the bad
PR falsehood motivated by
devilish
jealousy.
This
is hardly a comprehensive list.
The great book of PR brilliance
and blunders is amended daily as
PR and marketing pros ever strive
for new ways to catch or dodge the
public's unblinking eye. Stay
tuned for more in this ongoing
series.
-
Steven R. Van Hook
Have
your own nomination for a PR coup
or caper? Drop
me a line
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