To promote a book, called Dead Pets, about pet cemataries, cruel animal death in movies, the stunt doubles that make that happen, pet afterlife and its religious implications and, yes, recipes for cooking pets, book publisher Canon Gate has launched a microsite, with ghoulish music, where you can play "whack a pet with a bat." We're sure it's all done humorously. We hope. It was created by Small Oranges.
Like young lovers finding out how much fun it is to kiss each other, book publishers can't seem to get enough of these kooky promotions for their books. But, with this execution, is the trend dead before it even began?
Yes But No But Yes found their way to Times Square today for National Underwear Day sponsored by underwear seller FreshPair. There;s really no other news to tell other than it's yet another attention getting Times Square stunt and an excuse to look at hot human beings. And not just women. More pictures here.
To help promote the Canadian Synchronized Swim Team who appeared at the Aquatics World Championships in Montreal last month, experiential agency Gearwerx Experiential Marketing developed a mobile, see-through swimming pool mounted atop a trailer which traveled in and around Montreal while swimmers performed inside the tank. Gearwerx President Max Lenderman shares more details on the promotion here.
Following recent stories about a Connecticut man who mysteriously disappeared, amid reportedly foul play, on his honeymoon cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines ship "Brilliance of the Sea," the cruise line has, rather insensitively and stupidly, sent this 2006 Murder Mystery Cruise promotional flyer to its travel agents. Hello? RCCL PR office?
Capitalizing on Lance Armstrong's recent Tour de France win, Discovery Channel is creating a few videos featuring Team Discovery and Armstrong as well as a few characters from Discovery shows for good promotional measure, of course. To promote the Steve Irwin Crocodile Hunter show, one of the videos is appropriately named "Croc-Bloc."
Like Paris Hilton in the center of a paparazzi frenzy, everyone buying a copy of the new OK Magazine was treated to their own, personal paparazzi shoot. To promote the launch of its new magazine, OK turned a New York City newsstand into a red carpet event. Everyone who went up to buy a copy of the just released celebrity magazine (do we need another?) was treated to cheering fans, paparazzi and onlooking tourists
Yesterday in New York City, some weirdo decided to hang from a 13th floor balcony of the Kimberly hotel at 150 East 50th Street and drop a bunch of flyers promoting his non-sensical website that seems to be designed to dissuade Florida tourism. Of course, all hell broke loose with police arriving on the scene, closing the block and finally apprehending the kook. The Daily News reports the website mentioned on the flyer is registered to Mauricio Pavez of Miami. It's unclear whether Pavez was the man on the balcony as the police declined to release the man's name.
While idiotic and frustrating to many New Yorkers who were held up due to the street closings, we can be quite sure the man's website is getting a lot more attention today than if he hadn't been caught.
My Little Pony, a toy line for girls from Hasbro that was extremely popular in the 1980's, has launched an exhibit/promotion called The Pony Project. Hasbro, to re-energize the My Little Pony Line, has invited young, contemporary female artists of varied backgrounds such as graffiti, fashion, illustration, photography, and fine art to customize blank 18” My Little Pony figures. Artists like Claw Money (graffiti writer), Maya Hayuk (fine artist), Betsey Johnson (designer), and Kozyndan (illustrator) will create their versions of My Little Pony.
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The Next Wave points to a story about Vienna's Leopold Museum, which, in a move very unlike most staid art museums, promoted it's "The Naked Truth" art exhibit by offering free entry to anyone wearing just a swimsuit or no clothes at all. Many people took the museum up on its offer including 52-year-old Bettina Huth who visited the museum topless.
Nudity being just an excuse to create a media circus, Huth didn't understand what all the fuss was about saying, "I go into the steam bath every week, so I'm used to being naked."
The Leopold Museum's Director Peter Weinhaeupl said the goal was to offer people a means to beat the sweltering heat and to create a mini-scandal the way the exhibited works of Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka and others did a century ago.
Part of the promotional website for the Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn movie Wedding Crashers and a scene within the movie makes reference to the Purple Heart, a military medal of honor. The movie, which, remember, is a movie and not real life, pokes fun at the medal by claiming it gets a guy attention if he wears one with the line, "Carrying a Purple Heart in your jacket guarantees you attention, admiration and plenty of free booze."
While no one wants to diminish the hard work and sacrifices the fine, upstanding people who serve and protect America provide, we might want to remember this is a joke within a movie and not a clandestine operation to provide every sleazy, girl-hunting man with a fake medal to improve his chances of scoring.
Always one to find himself in the middle of a controversy, Animal Magazine Publisher Bucky Turco commented, "While I know a lot of marketing campaigns cross the line here and there what I find most interesting is the cultural context and political atmosphere surrounding this harmless little promotion. Had the war in Iraq not been going on, this download would probably have went off without a hitch and not offended any vets. It could almost be construed as a type of offbeat homage to their bravery and the power of the uniform. Instead, this type of knee jerk reaction is a prime example of cultural shifts during times of war." Never the less, New Line acquiesced and pulled the promotion.
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