I had to call. The buzzwords like fun and clever being used to describe a mundane function like calling about a chocolate bar? My interest was piqued.
Pig Latin, while tricky to comprehend at the speed he was talking, was my favorite. Having used this secret language back in the mid eighties, but its ways escaping me now, it was nice to hear the old "kid-speak" as my dad would call it, again. (after all, my sister and I would use it to confuse our parents and try to "pull the wool over their eyes/ears).
I think the use of this creativity is genius. Like the author of the blog, I will not run out to buy a Crunch bar, but will keep the product in mind when searching for chocolate and looking at the boring Hershey's products...
If only I could come up with an ad like this, or a promotion, or stunt or what have you, my life would be complete. I dream of a career in the advertising world, and it would be a break (me off a piece of that kit kat...sorry) like this to get the ball rolling. Until then, it will be PR writing I guess.
Enjoy the snow everyone.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
bad perez is still good press
Reading the Badpitchblog, I couldn't help but compare the blog to that of pseudo famous celebrity blogger, Perez Hilton's site. The overall page was similar, and the content is similar, in that it makes fun of legitimate attempts at PR, as Hilton makes fun of sometimes legit celebs.
The BadPitchblog is silly and entertaining. This site showed me that there are so many bad pitches that before the world of blogs, escaped with little criticism. Not anymore...if the pitch is spotted, it is called out and put in front of those who care to follow the site. I love to critique ads, and now with the field open for bad pitches, if I come across any, I will be sure to think of this site, and may even submit a release or two.
The BadPitchblog is silly and entertaining. This site showed me that there are so many bad pitches that before the world of blogs, escaped with little criticism. Not anymore...if the pitch is spotted, it is called out and put in front of those who care to follow the site. I love to critique ads, and now with the field open for bad pitches, if I come across any, I will be sure to think of this site, and may even submit a release or two.
Monday, February 22, 2010
I do not feel that Southwest Airlines responded appropriately to Mr. Smith's situation. While there is absolutely no dispute that he is fat, overweight, obese, or unfit, depending on which media outlet is reporting about him and his unfortunate flight, but he was treated unfairly.
Over the past few years, the decision to make passengers purchase an extra ticket if overweight has received much controversy.
The article only makes those with little knowledge of the situation aware that Mr. Smith had an incident on a commercial flight in the past week, and that he was outraged. I have seen much more angry articles, but not his Twitter tweets.
From a P.R. standpoint, I feel that Southwest is doing the right thing. It appears in not just this post, but others as well, that they ARE listening, and are supremely apologetic. Apologetic to the point of sincerity. Also, after consideration of the events, Smith feels slighted, or has made a public statement claiming to feel slighted, on a personal level-from an employees personal feelings towards him. Something that the airline has no control over.
This situation could be saved, if Southwest and Kevin Smith reach an under the table agreement, if Smith agrees to stop bashing Southwest, and the mistake is chalked up to the personally feelings of the employee.
There is a lot of room in this scenario for both parties to save face.
Over the past few years, the decision to make passengers purchase an extra ticket if overweight has received much controversy.
The article only makes those with little knowledge of the situation aware that Mr. Smith had an incident on a commercial flight in the past week, and that he was outraged. I have seen much more angry articles, but not his Twitter tweets.
From a P.R. standpoint, I feel that Southwest is doing the right thing. It appears in not just this post, but others as well, that they ARE listening, and are supremely apologetic. Apologetic to the point of sincerity. Also, after consideration of the events, Smith feels slighted, or has made a public statement claiming to feel slighted, on a personal level-from an employees personal feelings towards him. Something that the airline has no control over.
This situation could be saved, if Southwest and Kevin Smith reach an under the table agreement, if Smith agrees to stop bashing Southwest, and the mistake is chalked up to the personally feelings of the employee.
There is a lot of room in this scenario for both parties to save face.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
the blair witch project
about 10-11 years ago, if my memory holds, I sat in a movie theater and was soooo intrigued with the trailer for an upcoming movie, called the Blair Witch Project, that I decided when it finally did come out, I would go opening night. This is an uncommon thing, that I get so into a fictional conveyance that costs 40 dollars to go see, with popcorn, drinks, and an extra ticket for a date or friend. But I waited patiently as the hype grew, and critics were terrified (or so reported) of the film.
Opening night comes around, and I fight the crowds to pay to be frightened. The movie starts, to little big cinema previews, and follows the trend that this is an indie release. The plot builds, and having grown up not so far from that area, I am very attentive to the details of the story, although at that time, some of the sets look conceived. I'm not entirely buying the story, but agree to go on with it as it is scary and entertaining, but it is not till the ending of the movie that I am totally convinced that this is real. Hands down, legit scared. I try to figure out how far it is to get to Burkettsville, MD so I can get some thrill seeking friends to go and get a true life feel for this ourselves. (no takers..) I saw the movie again in the theater, this time during the day, by myself, and remained interested in this for a while.
There were constant reports that the movie was produced for next to nothing, and how it had such a great return on investment through box office sales. This is business- make a product for x, sell it for y with the anticipation that y is more than x. This was even more reason to applaud the efforts of the filmmakers. All is well in the mind of Mike, that these kids, or the survivors, are modern day heroes.
It was a fake. A fraud. A scam. I was duped. So was everyone... it was a great scam. The movie made millions, but the Blair Witch Project was a one hit wonder for the movie world, as no one trusted the efforts of these kids again.
I think there was so much interest because you never really knew what the movie was about. During the trailer, there were only screaming, shaky cameras running through a forest, camping scenes, and a title implying a witch.. but this was enough to draw millions to see this opening weekend. There was a Blair Witch 2, but very very little interest.
Even with the original, there was websites and a a whole culture that supported the film, making it that much more believable.
this was the greatest trick the witch ever pulled, make the world believe it existed.
Friday, February 5, 2010
entrepreneur article
I found the article very interesting, with a marketing background from other institutions. Having never personally planned a marketing stunt in conjunction with my businesses, I am actively batting around ideas of how I may make one a reality.
The Taco Bell stunt was my favorite, particularly because I love April Fool's Day pranks. This one, on a national level was pure genius. I think this worked so well because of the pure outrageous nature of the stunt. People did not know whether to believe the reports or not. This type of press has no downside, as it is harmless and generates substantial interest and discussion. I would venture a guess that on April 01 that year, many more people were talking about Taco Bell than actually visited the restaurant, and with the proof being in the numbers, there was a huge increase in visitors.
Of the stunts that did not work, the life threatening attempt by JMP Creative was the most ill-conceived tactic. For starters, the crew did not apparently have the proper training, and there was no mentioned safe word that would call off the stunt. While the firm, and McCafferty have gained clients and monetarily after the stunt, the risk of human life does not justify the end result.
The Taco Bell stunt was my favorite, particularly because I love April Fool's Day pranks. This one, on a national level was pure genius. I think this worked so well because of the pure outrageous nature of the stunt. People did not know whether to believe the reports or not. This type of press has no downside, as it is harmless and generates substantial interest and discussion. I would venture a guess that on April 01 that year, many more people were talking about Taco Bell than actually visited the restaurant, and with the proof being in the numbers, there was a huge increase in visitors.
Of the stunts that did not work, the life threatening attempt by JMP Creative was the most ill-conceived tactic. For starters, the crew did not apparently have the proper training, and there was no mentioned safe word that would call off the stunt. While the firm, and McCafferty have gained clients and monetarily after the stunt, the risk of human life does not justify the end result.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Fears
Until now, I harbored a slight fear of public speaking. I don't know why exactly I fear my peers, and cannot say that I am fully cured of this, but this weekend was my first karaoke experience. Let me say, I am hooked.
To set the stage, it was happy hour, NYC, and a friend of mine was bartending and the majority of the patrons were her friends. The bar had just opened for the night, and there were only a few other people in the bar, so my inhibitions were already low. My friend, Natalie, made me some concoction, what I would consider a "girly shot" and told me that my song is next. I had no idea what she had picked for me, but did a short introduction to the bar while the into was playing. She informed them that I was visiting from across the Hudson and that I do not "fist pump". I knew the song, Bon Jovi (fitting?) and had no choice but to take the mic and do my best. After the first few lines, I just looked away from the crowd did what I was up there to do, and in three minutes, it was all done. I followed up by singing five more songs that night, while the bar filled up, and people came and went.
I overcame a major fear that night, and if I can sing in front of people, anyone can..
To set the stage, it was happy hour, NYC, and a friend of mine was bartending and the majority of the patrons were her friends. The bar had just opened for the night, and there were only a few other people in the bar, so my inhibitions were already low. My friend, Natalie, made me some concoction, what I would consider a "girly shot" and told me that my song is next. I had no idea what she had picked for me, but did a short introduction to the bar while the into was playing. She informed them that I was visiting from across the Hudson and that I do not "fist pump". I knew the song, Bon Jovi (fitting?) and had no choice but to take the mic and do my best. After the first few lines, I just looked away from the crowd did what I was up there to do, and in three minutes, it was all done. I followed up by singing five more songs that night, while the bar filled up, and people came and went.
I overcame a major fear that night, and if I can sing in front of people, anyone can..
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