The Bottom Line Vine

Any press is good press right? Wrong! Making a complete spectacle out of yourself or your brand will get you attention, but is it the kind of attention you want. A well executed marketing stunt can put your company on the map… an ill-conceived one can result in embarrassment, trips to the unemployment office and even angry mobs.

Here are 10 of the most outrageous marketing stunts. 5 were killer campaigns that resulted in big wins for their respective companies and 5 were disastrous duds that left their marketing department saying “Whoops,’ or worse…

#1. WHOOPS: Starbucks Email Coupon

In an effort to supplement slumping sales Starbucks initiated a viral campaign that spread to an epidemic. On August 23rd of 2006 Starbucks sent an email coupon for a free iced coffee to a few employees in the south eastern part of the US and encouraged them to forward the email to their friends and family.

The problem was they did not take into account the speed & scope of email and the fact that their coupon could be reproduced an infinite amount of times. What resulted was a worldwide run on Starbucks. In a panic Starbucks yanked the promotion leaving lines of disgruntled customers. The swift action saved them millions in lost revenue but resulted in a PR nightmare and a $114 million dollar class action lawsuit. Thanks a latte Starbucks!

#2. WIN: Golden Palace and The Virgin Mary Sandwich

Barred from advertising through conventional media, Caribbean based online casino GoldenPalace.com has been forced to think outside the box, coming up with some outrageous marking stunts like paying people to tattoo GoldenCasino.com on their foreheads. In their most successful stunt, the casino bought a grilled cheese sandwich, that was adorned with the likeness of the Virgin Mary for $28,000 on eBay. The $28K not only got them a sacred sandwich but also coverage from every major media outlet across the globe.

#3. WHOOPS: Calling All ID Thieves

In a bold marketing move to show the power of LifeLock, an identity theft protection service, CEO Todd Davis published his social security number and dared identity thieves to try and steal his identity.

The campaign that featured truck side billboards, internet and broadcast ads bearing his social security number drew a lot of media attention… unfortunately, not as much attention as the identity thief that successfully stole his identity.

LifeLock claimed that the breach was an isolated incident and not their fault but according to court documents, over 20 fraudulent Driver’s license have been obtained with Davis’s social security number.

#4. WIN: Nathan’s Famous & Healthy Hot Dogs?

In 1915 Coney Island, Polish immigrant Nathan Handwerker worked as a hotdog bun slicer at Feltman’s Beer Garden. Dismayed that he and his fellow immigrant workers couldn’t afford to buy a Feltman’s hot dog, he decided to make his own reasonably priced dogs, and in 1916 he opened “Nathan’s Famous Frankfurter & Soft Drink Stand.”

Things didn’t start out so good for Nathan. The public was already growing weary of they spicy mystery meat tubes and Nathan’s low 5 cent price fueled rumors that his dogs were made from inferior dog and horse meat. In a move to win the publics trust, Nathan hired people wearing lab coats and stethoscopes to stand in front of his restaurant eating hotdogs.

The public bought it and he capitalized on it with signs that boasted “If doctors eat our hot dogs, you know they’re good!” So instead of fading from the streets of Coney Island, he was able to generate the momentum that lead to a Hot Dog empire and household name.

#5. WHOOPS: This One Bombed

In January of 2007 promote the new Aqua Teen Hunger Force (ATHF) movie, Turner Broadcasting hired Interference Inc. to generate buzz. Their plan, dubbed Boston Mission 1 involved planting Lite-Brite like devices bearing the likeness of an ATHF character “Er” in numerous high traffic areas like train stations and overpasses.

At 8:05 AM on January 31st someone noticed the glowing circuit board on an Interstate 93 Bridge support beam and rather than recognizing the obscure sinister cartoon character, they called the police, who brought in the bomb squad, shut down the highway and created hours of gridlock throughout the city.

The stunt sparked world wide media attention but ultimately resulted in several arrests, lawsuits, the resignation of the Cartoon Network GM, the federal Terrorist Hoax Improvements Act of 2007, and hardly a mention of the actual movie in the media.

#6. WIN: Half.com, Oregon

In 1999 Start-up Half.com had a great discount retail platform but struggled to standout in from the rapidly growing dot com retail crowd. To raise brand awareness they paid the city of Halfway, OR to change their name to Half.com.

The move attracted a flurry of media attention bringing them from the business section to the front page. Traffic to the site boomed and months later eBay swooped in a bought the rising star for $300 million. Reports indicate that Halfway was a little less fortunate. Their official website explained, “Half.com made many promises. Some of which were honored and others not.”

#7. WHOOPS: Disco Demolition Night or Comiskey Park Demolition Night?

Experience stagnant ticket sales at Comiskey Park, the Chicago White Sox decided to take advantage of Disco’s waning public favor by holding Disco Demolition Night. Hoping to bring in an extra 5000 or so spectators to a double header against the Detroit Tigers, the White Sox management encouraged fans to bring in their Disco records in exchange for $1 tickets.

The promotion did bring in 5,000 fans along with 70,000 more. When thousands were turned away from the 45K person capacity park, angry disco haters resorted to crashing the gates and scaling the walls. In between the two games, as scheduled, a popular local radio host blew up a crate of the Disco records in Center Field and the crowd went wild… literally. They rioted, setting fires and tearing the field to pieces resulting in the White Sox being forced to forfeit the second game.

#8. WIN: The Taco Liberty Bell… Just Kidding

On April 1st, 1996 Taco Bell bought newpaper ads with a picture of the national treasure, The Liberty Bell, announcing that they bought and renamed it the “Taco Liberty Bell.” The ad copy read:

“Taco Bell is pleased to announce that we have agreed to purchase the Liberty Bell, one of our country’s most historic treasures. It will now be called the ‘Taco Liberty Bell’ and will still be accessible to the American public for viewing. While some may find this controversial, we hope our move will prompt other corporations to take similar action to do their part to reduce the country’s debt.”

Of course outrage ensued and people not realizing that it was April Fool’s Day, began bombarding Liberty Bell Center and Taco Bell with irate complaints. At about noon, Taco Bell released a statement explaining the prank and the outrage turned to hungry laughter as the media outlets ate it up and Taco Bell experienced a $1.1 Million increase in sales over the next two days.

#9. WHOOPS: CK Edgy or Over the Edge?

Calvin Klein thrives on the attention they get from their boundary pushing provocative advertising campaigns, but in 1995 they pushed a little too far. The campaign in question featured a series of TV commercials featuring barely legal teens in a wood paneled room being interviewed by a creepy old man.

Unlike their ads featuring a sexy but underage Brooke Shields, these commercials looked like they were a pedophiles home movie reels. Yet again, outrage ensued, complaints poured in and the FBI even investigated Calvin Klein for possible child pornography charges. Although the FBI concluded that no crimes were committed the ads left a bad taste in the mouth of the public and the company ended up pulling the plug on the campaign.

#10. Win? The Paris Hilton Marketing Machine

Most people don’t think “Marketing Genius” when they think of Paris Hilton but she was able to take the public humiliation and subsequent media frenzy over the leak of her 2003 “Sex Tape” and leverage that fame to transform herself from an obscure spoiled socialite into a house hold name. By making a total spectacle of herself at every turn she has built her name into a multi-million dollar brand that has led her to financially successful fashion line, modeling career, acting career, speaking engagements and book deals.

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