I really feel for Sam and his guerrilla gang at Interference. Their promotion for Cartoon Network has literally blown up in their face. If you haven’t heard about this fiasco yet, see the press clip below. You might wonder how an agency or a client could even consider placing suspicious looking devices all over big cities like Boston, NY and DC in the Post 9/11 world. As an agency that does lots of “guerrilla marketing”, it isn’t too hard for me to reconstruct the process. The client, Cartoon Network in this case, says we really want to get a lot of attention for our new show, noting how edgy the content is and how edgy the promotion should be. The agency, excited to be working with a client who is really willing to take risks and “push the envelope”, throws out a bunch of ideas including one that is truly outrageous, never imaging in a million years that the client would say yes. But the client, probably a young staffer, is anxious to create a huge “buzz” and get as much “free” publicity as they can, says “go for it, what’s the worst that could happen?” Everyone is swept up in the excitement of the idea, knowing without a doubt that this stunt won’t go unnoticed and the idea does not go through all the internal scrutiny and legal review process that more traditional ad campaigns typically face. A few weeks later the stunt is on the street and “kaboom”, a freelance street team operative is arrested, a major corporation is facing investigation from the Massachusetts Attorney General and a guerrilla agency is suddenly infamous.I have no doubt someone at Cartoon Network will lose their job over this one and frankly they probably should. The insensitivity of this stunt is simply astonishing. We all live in this world together and seeking attention by potentially scaring the snot out of someone is an act of self indulgent stupidity. Marketers need to accept responsibility for their actions and avoid “we win, somebody loses” scenarios. I’m coming down harder on the client because they asked for it, they approved it and they funded it. As for Interference, they are going to take in on the chin for this one and if they are lucky no one will go to jail. I’m all for risk taking but come on folks, grow up! There have got to be ways of getting attention without calling out the bomb squad.
Suspicious packages part of Turner Broadcasting marketing campaign
By Mac Daniel, John Ellement, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
Turner Broadcasting acknowledged late this afternoon that the suspicious objects that ignited fears of bombs across Boston today were magnetic lights that were part of an outdoor marketing campaign for an adult cartoon.
Turner was promoting Adult Swim’s animated television show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” in Boston and nine other cities, according to a statement e-mailed by Shirley Powell, a company spokeswoman.
Here’s a part of the Reuters story today on the subject with quotes from yours truly:
Still, while Turner Broadcasting may have successfully reached the audience of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” it likely faces a broader public relations headache, said Drew Neisser, the chief executive of Renegade Marketing Group.
“They got a lot of P.R.– but they are probably not happy on the corporate level,” said Neisser, who has overseen viral campaigns such as using an old checkered cab with HSBC’s logo to give free rides to the bank’s customers in New York.
“The question becomes in all this does the marketer have any responsibility to the world at large? Obviously my perspective is they do,” said Neisser. “You should be able to sell your products without making the world any worse.”