guerrilla marketingBefore last summer’s horrific fatal shootings at The Dark Knight Rises screening in Colorado, hiring costumed “gunmen” to walk into a crowded movie theater as a marketing stunt would have merely been a bad idea that might have made the local news. Post-Aurora, it’s the kind of idiotically ill-advised idea that results in multiple 9-1-1 calls and the theater having to apologize to outraged customers. [Reddit via Gawker]
There’s nothing quite like it — you walk past the box in the grocery store, and something catches your eye, sets your stomach a-rumbling. It looks so good, so delicious and tempting, you must buy it, own it, and devour it for your very own. But as Dave found out with a Red Baron breakfast scramble, taking off that persuasive packaging often reveals something much less desirable. [More]
A bizarre online ad for Mountain Dew, featuring a talking, abusive goat and a bruised and battered woman has been pulled by parent company PepsiCo following complaints. [More]
We never really understood the idea behind Foursquare. Then again we’ve never felt the need to broadcast our whereabouts to the rest of the world. Regardless, there are still plenty of people checking in at stores, bars, restaurants, and anywhere else you could imagine. But what’s in it for Foursquare? [More]
Think that your mobile browsing habits exist in a different world than the content and ads you view on your PC? Until recently, you’d have been correct, but now advertisers are coming up with ways to identify consumers across platforms in order to provide them with ads they might actually click on. [More]
Getting thousands, maybe millions of Internet users to view, like, share, and talk about your product isn’t easy. Any number of companies have tried to anonymously post “viral” content in the hope that it will spread quickly (and without having to pay for additional ads). And following a rash of funny/interesting Pringles photos popping up on Reddit, some users claim it’s a blatant marketing gimmick. [More]
UPDATE: Hyundai has issued a longer apology on its British Twitter page, reading: ”Hyundai understands that the video has caused offence. We apologise unreservedly. The video has been taken down and will not be used in any of our advertising or marketing.” [More]
Companies fork over untold piles of cash to have their products featured on a TV show or in a movie — even going so far as to digitally insert ads in the far background of a sitcom rerun, but there are some cases where brands would probably rather not be identified with what viewers are watching. [More]
Most of us know that what we actually get from a fast food eatery is never identical to what’s shown in the ads, and sometimes is similar in name only. We got used to knowing that a cheeseburger will never look as perfect as it does in the commercial, but with the recent addition of supposedly fancier menu items consumers are learning to prep themselves for more disappointment. [More]
UPDATE: A source at Twitter tells Consumerist that there are behind-the-scenes systems in place to try to prevent ads being served to users who have posted negative Tweets about a particular advertiser. Users can also report promoted Tweets that they feel are inappropriate or counter to their interests. [More]
While it might seem like your day is ruined if you can’t get a Big Mac, in no way is it the same as suffering from a mental illness. That’s a point McDonald’s apparently missed with a regional ad in the Boston area: It featured a familiar image of a distraught woman with her head in her hands with the copy, “You Are Not Alone.” Below it? “Millions of people love the Big Mac.” [More]
Unless you’re like me and the sight of the GEICO pig on your TV has you instantly lunging for the mute button, you may have seen the ads where the porcine insurance shill blabs on about the convenience of having his insurance card on his smartphone. That’s nice and all, but it won’t currently fly in most states. [More]
From the second you pull into a store’s parking lot, you can be relatively certain there are electronic eyes on you. But we’re way past the days of black-and-white monitors to discourage vandalism and shoplifting. Today’s retailers follow you everywhere and know lots about you. [More]
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When a restaurant receipt story gets wildly popular online, it’s usually because a horrible customer leaves a rude message or because a restaurant staffer insults a diner, but occasionally it’s a happy story about an eatery doing something nice. Question is, are restaurants beginning to fake these stories for positive PR? [More]
Earlier this month, Victoria’s Secret launched an ad campaign featuring the slogan “Bright Young Things” for its Spring Break collection. Included in this collection were items like panties with “call me” written on the front or “wild” on the rear end — all of which seemed to marketed toward teens. Not surprisingly, some parents were upset and the collection appears to have vanished. [More]
Forget airline miles, cash back, rewards points, or any of that rubbish. American Express wants you to remember that the best way to take full advantage of your card is to carry a balance. [More]
Earlier this week, billboards started popping up around Greenville, SC, advertising a new mode of transportation — or at least a form of transport that has been promised to us since the 1950s. [More]
A construction company coated Bryan’s neighborhood with leaflets, and he wasn’t happy about it. He tried to complain right to the company, and only got an answering service. So what’s a dissatisfied consumer to do? He turned to Yelp. Yelp, in turn, took down his review because it violates the site’s Content Guidelines for reviews, as it “doesn’t describe a firsthand customer experience.” Since when is having your neighborhood coated with flyers not a firsthand experience? [More]
