The media post mortem following Michael Jackson’s death, which shows no signs of abating, has unearthed some astounding observations. With the tearful tributes, the questions about cause of death, the demand for a second post mortem, potential custody battles over his children and the absence of any will and testament, I can’t help feeling that…
The 21st Century is a noisy old place to live, with millions of people going about their daily lives and thousands upon thousands of brands, celebrities, politicians, chancers and scoundrels trying to get some attention for whatever they are selling. And with the recession looming ever larger on the financial horizon, taking down long-standing brands…
News has come in that Apple are attempting to sell iPhones in Poland by paying actors to queue outside the stores to whoop up interest in the all-singing, all-dancing phone which is released there on Friday. According to Reuters, a spokesman has said: “We have these fake queues at front of 20 stores around the…
The man behind the photos from a supposed “undiscovered” Amazon tribe that were sent around the world, has admitted that it was a publicity stunt. The indigenous tribes expert Jose Carlos Meirelles said the tribe had been photographed to show that uncontacted tribes did exist in an area that was endangered by logging. I suppose…
,Curtis, 50 Cent, Jackson is said to be furious about a challenge posed by fast food chain Taco Bell, who has offered to donate a fee of $10,000 to charity if he changes his name from 50 cent to 79, 89 or 99 cent as part of a value meal promotion at the chain. The…
I loved the Orangutan protest covered in today’s Daily Mail. Environmentalists dressed in Orangutan costumes and besieged the London headquarters of Unilever, the giant household products conglomerate. At the same time, its offices in Rotterdam and Rome and a factory in Merseyside were targeted. According to a Greenpeace report, Burning Up Borneo is accusing Unilever…
At long last, a Hollywood Studio buying into a publicity stunt. According to reports, a fear-inducing publicity stunt in US movie theatres helped usher in success for the new film “Prom Night,” as the movie won the box office battle for the weekend ending April 13, according to USA Today and other film sources. The…
The hearing on the suggested banning of Marion Knight from Compton is being held today. It’s interesting to see how Marion “Suge” Knight, the co-founder of Death Row Records, has called his recent involvement in being banned from Compton, “a publicity stunt”. Knight has been included in a request to ban members of the Mob…
An old friend of mine in New Zealand sent me some information on a classic piece of guerrilla marketing that is causing a kerfuffle in the Southern Hemisphere. To coincide with the launch of Mintshot.co.nz, an entertainment website which rewards people for watching ads online, it appeared that Rangitoto, an extinct volcano, was actually erupting…
In 2002, eight cheezy PRs, including myself, were gathered together by PR Week to decide on the top 20 consumer PR campaigns in the history of publicity campaigns. One publicity stunt that shone out was Live Aid, 1984 which was an iconic event to raise awareness and money for starving Africans. It united the world…