Is all Publicity Good?

PR stunts go on all the time.  Companies strategically do things to get people paying attention and to start talking.  But what if a plan goes sour?  People are still going to talk but is it good for your company?  They're still talking... right?

One of the most notable stunts-gone-wrong was back in 2006 when LifeLock CEO Todd Davis put his social security number on billboards to instigate people into attempting to steal his identity and prove LifeLock's reputation.  The only problem is that his identity was stolen... 13 times to be exact and 87 steals were attempted but failed.  Sorry, guy, but that's just not good publicity.  Even the CEO's life wasn't on lock.

Another PR stunt that... melted, was in 2005 and right here in town.  Snapple wanted to show off the worlds biggest popsicle in Union Square.  The only problem: it was mid June and this popsicle didn't stand a chance to the summer weather.  The 25-foot-tall pop began to melt and all of Union Square was drenched in strawberry-kiwi flavored juice.  Even though the fire department was called for cleanup-- this stunt wasn't as bad as LifeLock's.  It's summer, we eat popsicles, they melt-- too bad no one got a lick of this one first!

Then there are the PR stunts that go incredibly well.  The ones that have people talking for reasons other than identity theft and melting desserts!  One that we talked about in anther post was Red Bull's Stratos free fall.  Felix Baumgartner completed the highest ever free fall, from space.   This stunt of all stunts went perfectly with the brand's "fearless" attitude.  It got people talking and on the Red Bull bandwagon.  And then a year later, the company posted a POV video from Baumgartner's perspective to make sure that people didn't forget how wild and crazy Red Bull is and that maybe it does give you wings.

I know I want a can right about now.

By: Tori


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