Advertising Gone Wild: Artistic Vandalism and Drives in Space
Mike Catherall
March 17, 2006
There are a few sure fire ways to garner publicity for your product in the modern age. You can get your brand involved in a high-powered lawsuit like PETA and the Ringling Circus. You can track down a celebrity to endorse it. You can slip it into a film as product placement, or a hip-hop track, or music video Or else, you can find yourself the subject of hype through pure blind luck.
Such is the case of Wrigleys Polar Ice gum, Tim Hortons, and Snapple.
Snapple erected a giant popsicle in Union Square in New York City last year in 90 degree heat, only to have the massive thing melt into a slushy goo and make front page of the papers. Whether this was intentional or not doesn't really matter, it reaffirmed the Snapple brand, and reminded us to never make popsicles out of it.
Tim Horton's got a random plug last year when convicted murderer Karla Homolka announced that the first thing she was going to do when she got out of prison was get an iced cappuccino.
And then there is the case of Wrigley's Polar Ice gum. Not only did a 12 year old boy put gum on a 1.5 million dollar masterpiece, 'The Bay', but lab analysis had to determine exactly what type of gum it was to get the fibre matching right.
But if vandalism of the arts isn't really your style, then there is always making your product the centre of a space mission by having astronauts drive a golf ball into the middle of the universe with your golf clubs.
If you believe Ries and Trout's 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, and their view that hype is nothing but hot air, then these events should be nothing to raise an eyebrow over. However, if you are anywhere as Internet savvy as a 16 year old, then you'll know that quirky news and stories spread like wildfire online, and that it only needs to be hyped in the right way to build awareness, and ultimately traffic.
Such is the case of Wrigleys Polar Ice gum, Tim Hortons, and Snapple.
Snapple erected a giant popsicle in Union Square in New York City last year in 90 degree heat, only to have the massive thing melt into a slushy goo and make front page of the papers. Whether this was intentional or not doesn't really matter, it reaffirmed the Snapple brand, and reminded us to never make popsicles out of it.
Tim Horton's got a random plug last year when convicted murderer Karla Homolka announced that the first thing she was going to do when she got out of prison was get an iced cappuccino.
And then there is the case of Wrigley's Polar Ice gum. Not only did a 12 year old boy put gum on a 1.5 million dollar masterpiece, 'The Bay', but lab analysis had to determine exactly what type of gum it was to get the fibre matching right.
But if vandalism of the arts isn't really your style, then there is always making your product the centre of a space mission by having astronauts drive a golf ball into the middle of the universe with your golf clubs.
If you believe Ries and Trout's 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, and their view that hype is nothing but hot air, then these events should be nothing to raise an eyebrow over. However, if you are anywhere as Internet savvy as a 16 year old, then you'll know that quirky news and stories spread like wildfire online, and that it only needs to be hyped in the right way to build awareness, and ultimately traffic.
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