Turner Puts Other ‘Edgy’ Marketing Plans on Hold

Scott Ott is on the case:

A day after a Turner Broadcasting guerrilla marketing campaign for an adult cartoon put Boston on full terror alert, the company said it would reconsider other “edgy” marketing plans it was about to launch.
Turner had placed dozens of battery-operated light boards displaying an obscene gesture throughout each of the 10 major U.S. cities. A series of Boston bomb scares sparked by the devices forced authorities to shut down roads, bridges and a section of the Charles River yesterday.
An unnamed spokesman for Turner said the company would now review plans for the following guerrilla marketing campaigns designed to “generate buzz” about the cartoon.

– Renting a 747 painted with the show’s name and flying it past skyscrapers in major cities
– Hiring young men to show up in malls, on buses and other heavily-trafficked areas who would suddenly whip open their coats to reveal a special vest with blinking lights, and begin shouting the theme song of the show.
– “Abducting” strangers, blindfolding them, forcing them to their knees and then broadcasting their videotaped “confessions” that they love the cartoon.
– Hiring young men to suddenly stand up on buses and airliners and loudly declare that the new cartoon is “da bomb.”
– Planting hundreds of improvised advertising devices (IAD) that would suddenly flash, make a loud noise and scatter thousands of promotional fliers all over the road or sidewalk.
– Mounting a “viral” marketing campaign in which dozens of journalists would each receive an envelope containing a white powder along with a note daring the recipient to hold his breath until the debut of the new cartoon.
–Calling the White House, Pentagon, Supreme Court and other famous places and claiming to have planted a “dirty bomb” on the front steps, which turns out to be a paper bag full of dog droppings with the show’s logo stamped on the bag.
“These promotional gimmicks are designed to appeal to the kind of adult who would stay up late to watch cartoon characters who use foul language and obscene gestures,” the Turner source said.
In related news, Turner reported that overnight ratings from Boston showed TV viewership got a big boost thanks to the panic that forced citizens to remain in their homes. The company’s CNN division also saw a large increase in viewers eager to follow news of the bomb scares.

Posted by on February 1st, 2007 at 8:28 pm


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