Companies that send vehicles on demand also enjoy giving people the ability to summon other things with the power of their smartphones, like when Uber let people in select cities summon puppies and kittens or free fruit deliveries when the company was suspended from giving rides in Germany. Lyft’s Halloween publicity stunt is less cuddly and more spooky: they’ll send you zombies on demand if you order one. [More]
publicity stunts
![Ford Selling [Fake] Time-Traveling Flux Capacitor For A Mere $1.2M](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/screen-shot-2015-10-19-at-1-27-59-pm.png?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Ford Selling [Fake] Time-Traveling Flux Capacitor For A Mere $1.2M
By 10.19.15
Ever since the clock struck midnight on Jan. 1, 2015, companies have been throwing elbows trying to one-up each other to see who can offer recreations of – and reap the revenues from – products showcased in Back to the Future: Part II: “Pepsi Perfect,” a $10,000 hover board, self-lacing shoes from Nike and more. With just two days to go until Marty McFly’s fateful visit to the future, Ford is getting in on the marketing glory by offering a [fake] flux capacitor. [More]
Pepsi Selling “Pepsi Perfect” Collectible Soda On The Date Marty McFly Visited 2015 In ‘Back To The Future: Part II’
By 10.5.15
As it turns out, having your product featured in a major motion picture doesn’t only pay off when the movie first heads to theaters, but it can reap promotional gold for years to come, if you play it right. To that end, Pepsi announced it’s offering a limited quantity of Pepsi Perfect on the day Marty McFly orders a Pepsi in Back to the Future: Part II — Oct. 21, 2015. [More]
Taco Bell Sends 1,000 People Burner Phones With Secret Breakfast Missions
By 3.21.14
Do you harbor a secret desire to live inside a spy movie, but with nothing important at stake? Do you also like waffles? If so, it’s too bad that you weren’t one of the 1,000 fast-food influencers on the list to receive Taco Bell’s “breakfast phone.” It rings with secret, breakfast-related missions for the bearers to fulfill. The phone is not shaped like a waffle taco. [More]
It’s A Bit Boring To Watch People Try To Break World Record For Binge-Watching
By 1.7.14
Last night, about 12 hours before CES threw open its door to attendees, three folks gathered in the TiVo booth in order to begin their attempt at breaking the world record for TV binge-watching. Not even a full day in, and it’s kind of a sad sight. [More]
Rejected Marriage Proposal At Baseball Game Just A Publicity Stunt
By 8.7.13
Surely you’ve asked yourself when seeing a flashy public marriage proposal, “what would happen if the person being asked said ‘no?'” The marketing peeps over at baseball’s minor-league New Britain Rock Cats wondered the same thing. So they staged a fake proposal during a fan trivia contest to find out how the crowd would react…and to get the video shared far and wide. [More]
NY Lawmaker Wants Rich Convicts To Pay For Their Own Incarceration
By 7.21.09
New York State Assemblyman Jim Tedicsco sees an injustice. The upstate Republican saw wealthy scammer Bernie Madoff convicted and sent to federal prison for 150 years the rest of his life at taxpayer expense. How fair is that? Why can’t rich criminals pay their own way?
One Man's Publicity Stunt Is Another's Vision Of Hell
By 6.5.09
I mentioned comedian and filmmaker Mark Malkoff in passing in a post about Starbucks last week, not knowing that he would embark on a new project this week. He’s making a career out of bizarre feats of consumer endurance, such as visiting all 171 Manhattan Starbucks outlets in one day, and living in the Paramus, NJ IKEA for a week. Now, as part of a campaign to publicize AirTrain’s new in-flight wi-fi, he’s living on an AirTran plane for 30 days and posting his adventures on the Internet. Yes. That’s an entire month. Most of which will probably be spent on the tarmac in Atlanta.
Spirit Airlines Hold "Threesome Sale"
By 3.28.08
Spirit Airlines, holding a “Threesome Sale”, is apparently desperate for attention and I guess we’ll just have to give it to them. In this sale, members of the $9 Club get fares from $3 each way, seat upgrades for $3, and $33 for 33 hours. This comes on the heels of their last titillatingly titled marketing push, the “M.I.L.F sale,” which simply meant “Many Islands Low Fares,” and in no way, shape, or form, referenced American Pie. Now, before you get all outraged, remember that this is called “targeted marketing.” If you’re buying tickets for $3, classiness is probably not the first thing on your mind. I can’t wait for their next sale. I hear their marketing teams is busy coming up with clever acrostics for “gangbang.”
Spirit Airlines Holds "MILF Sale," Denies Having Seen "American Pie"
By 12.3.07
What? Milfs for sale? If you go to their website, there it is spelled nice and big for you, M.I.L.F.(many islands low fares). Is this an attempt to be clever and comical, or are they that uninformed?
The email attracted a bit of media coverage, and now Spirit is claiming that they have no idea (wink, wink) what a MILF is, and that the executive that approved the promotion is British. (Apparently, British people don’t have movie theaters or internet connections, the poor things.) Asked whether or not the airline knew the acronym was offensive, Juan Arbelaez, the director of communications for the company’s Latin American market, told ABC News:
Target: Internet Bell Ringing Only, Please
By 11.16.06
According to the Chicago Sun-Times:
“Target Corp.’s policy of prohibiting Salvation Army bell ringers on its property will remain in force this Christmas season, but the Minneapolis-based retailer said Tuesday it will donate $1 million to launch an online version of the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program.
Battle to be America’s Cleanest Toilet
By 2.28.06
Cast your vote for America’s cleanest restroom at bestrestroom.com.
