Funny, Viral, Chickens and Popsicles: A Response to The Best/Worst Marketing Stunts

In 2006, Entrepreneur Magazine released an article highlighting 10 of the best and 5 of the worst company publicity stunts. Quite an interesting and enjoyable read. Publicity stunts are hard to pull off; to successfully market a product or company with this strategy, a lot has got to go right and a little luck can never hurt. When done successfully, however, a company can find itself propelled into national spotlight and enjoy an upward spike in revenue.


My thoughts on some stunts from the article are as follows:

• Burger King's Subservient Chicken Viral Marketing Campaign and the Left Handed Whopper-- Burger King advertised a Left-Handed whopper as an April Fool's joke. Funny, harmless, and generated buzz. Additionally, the site Subservient Chicken, was originally designed for members within the corporation, word of mouth spread the quirky and hilarious webpage. I suggest you go and spend at least 10 minutes commanding this chicken. It's quite empowering.
• Online poker giant GoldenPalace.com buys Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich for $28,000 dollars -- Sure, the company made headlines, but I can't help but wonder if there was some better stunt they could have pulled off for that kind of money. I suppose, however, that since GoldenPalace can't advertise by traditional means, the Holy sandwich wasn't the worst move in the world.
• Snapple erecting the world's largest popsicle in Times Square NY -- Sounds like a fun idea, but not in 80 degree weather. Seriously, Snapple? The popsicle started to make sticky splash waves throughout the streets causing the stunt to fail miserably. Note to Snapple: We don't care if you're made from the best stuff on earth, we don't want to shower in it.
• DC Comics Killing Superman -- As a huge comic fan, I can say that this stunt worked with outstanding results. I love me my superheroes but I know none of them are safe. Comics are great because every series can be placed in a separate reality. Even though Superman was dead, it was always safe to assume he'd be back; however, because DC took the risk and killed him off, the comic became a classic and a collectors item.

There's some other interesting marketing schemes on the link above. When it comes down to it, nobody ever really knows what's going to work. It's hit or miss. But what is important (and highlighted in the article) is to be active and to be prepared to shake things up in your organization. By trying to have a fun and active image, a company enlarges its chances at success.