Crisis Public Relations

Final Post

2007-05-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that this is the last blog I will ever have to post for a grade. This whole semester has flown by. The past few months I have been scouring the internet for crises which involve some sort of public relations response. I have found many different examples which I have shared with you. I am saddened to say that one of my favorite topics, the tainted pet food, could be blogged about everyday. The scandal has only grown and the problem is that no one in the public has any kind of understanding of how this could potentially damage the entire food system. Most importantly, the companies involved are giving no explanation of how this happened, or how it possibly is so widespread.

All of my blogging correlates to what we have been talking about in class this semester. We have talked extensively about changing technology, how advertising and all media is changing, and how we have to keep up with the trends. The same is true for public relations, especially when handling a crisis. Specialists no longer need to rely on video news releases and press releases to educate the public about a situation. Instead, there is a bevy of options to effectively and quickly relay a message, the fastest being over the internet. While you can’t reliably measure how many people receive a message over the internet, there is no doubt that the internet, along with podcasts and blogs, will reach the highest number of people the fastest. The changing technology means that in a crisis, it is essential to carefully analyze which mediums would be the most effective vehicles to relay your message.

These past few months, I have given you many examples of crises that required public relations tactics to rectify the situation. Unfortunately almost all of the cases that I found, such as the ongoing pet food scandal, did not choose the right medium to relay information. The most important thing to remember is to tell the truth and keep the audience up to date on any new information. Most companies struggle with that which makes me wonder just exactly how trustworthy these big businesses are. The bottom line is that life is unpredictable, and the best crisis public relations campaign can fail due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control. But to truly restore faith in the brand or business, it is absolutely necessary that the public know exactly what the situation is.

Maybe We Should All Become Vegetarians...

2007-04-24T20:42:00.000-07:00

I may have been converted- after days full of hours of work I'm actually turning to blogging to relax me. I guess because I can search for stories that appeal to me, but either way I can't believe that on my break from all my schoolwork I'm choosing to blog!

A quick followup on my blogs about MenuFoods. I just found this article that says the FDA is definitely going to test imported ingredients that go into human food. Gee, thanks. In addition, there is an expansion on the testing of pet food due to hogs on farms in three different states testing positive for melamine, that nasty kitchen plastic ingredient that popped up in the pet food supply not too long ago. I can't believe I didn't think of it before but this situation is starting to sound like something that could have been incorporated into the book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, a book I couldn't put down it was so mind blowing. I haven't eaten fast food in well over a year because of that book. But honestly, if this contamination is making it's way through the food chain, it's only a matter of time before it affects the human population directly, nevermind these poor defenseless animals who eat whatever we feed them. I thought maybe vegetarian was the a good route but I suppose with all the pesticides it doesn't matter anyway. We wonder why humans and pets have all these random illnesses and autoimmune diseases, but no one stops to think that maybe what we're putting in our bodies isn't good for us just because it's green. Anyway I am shocked at the way the crisis was handled and I truly don't believe that the public is getting the entire story about this contaminated food- not good crisis communications. The company obviously didn't have any sort of plan for this type of incident and it shows.

I also read this great little article about the success of Nintendo's Wii. Poor Nintendo got left behind when Playstations and XBox's became the gamer's choice. But now they're back and they're better than ever with the Wii. The article gives glowing praise to Nintendo for managing to capture audiences of all ages, not with high impact graphics, but with interaction. This kind of parallels advertising, that people don't just want to look at products, they want to be involved with and interact with the brand, much like gamers. How cool is it that you can actually participate in a golf game, or compete in the boxing ring without leaving your living room? Nintendo can't make consoles fast enough, and by giving away Wii Sports with every $250 machine, Nintendo won't be able to keep up anytime in the near future. These are games that appeal to everybody young and old and marketers even targeted the over 50 crowd in AARP and Reader's Digest. I know I'm dying to try it, especially after this enthusiastic review.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

2007-04-23T19:08:00.000-07:00

K, as you can see by the title of my post something is up with that ubiquitous phrase we all recognize from Mary Poppins. I just read that a 13 year old girl won $25, 000 by text messaging that phrase in 15 seconds. How ridiculous is that? I can't believe that girl, who says she averages about 8000 text messages a month, won that amount of money for a text message. The mere fact that there exists the LG National Texting competition makes me wonder what exactly our world is coming to. I just can't get over this tidbit of news so I thought I would share it.

I found a great article at Mediaweek that touched on the excellent crisis communications management that the PR representatives of Virginia Teh executed. The article describes how the school utilized public relations officers from the different schools as well as the Virginia State Police and the Virginia Health Deptartment to keep the media updated and to relay information as soon as it was coming in. Obviously with the tragic loss of so many lives this situation required exceptionally delicate care, which these professionals gave, honoring the grieving families and lives cut short with their straightforwardness and honesty. The only complaint was that the school was severely unprepared for the hostility the media showered on them, but ultimately under the shocking and horrific circumstances they did, and are doing, the best job they possibly can.

Incidentally I found a great blog with tons of PR links and the guy who writes it is entertaining, humorous and holds interest. Mike Driehorst has interesting articles and I love what he has to say about SecondLife- that it should enhance our real life, not replace it! Check it out at http://www.mikespoints.com/.

Changing chocolate standards

2007-04-15T06:32:00.000-07:00

Since our group is working on a media plan for Bloomsberry chocolate, I found this article to be very interesting. Right now the FDA is reviewing a proposal to change the standard of how chocolate is made to allow large companies to use cheaper ingredients and still be able to label it "pure" chocolate. High end chocolate makers are urging people to challenge this proposal, which in my opinion is a great idea, seeing as the only people who will benefit are big businesses. I think it's insulting to do to chocolate lovers and hey, remember us? We're the consumers, and we want our chocolate to be good quality. So this led me to the website dontmesswithourchocolate.com which gives an even more detailed description of the adverse health benefits that legally changing the consistency of chocolate would have. Not one consumer benefit will come of this proposed change.

In other news I just read that Jolt Cola is being revitalized after being out of the beverage market for about 20 years. It seems a little risky to position themselves as an energy drink since Red Bull is so uniquely popular, but I do think a name like Jolt helps to convey just exactly how much caffeine is packed in that can. It no longer is a cola, it's Jolt Energy, and the website is telling consumers to "jolt up". clever, but I'm still interested to see how Jolt plans on moving in on Red Bull. They are going to have to spend some serious marketing dollars to even try to break into that marketshare. They claim that they will spend about the same as Red Bull, who last year spent 50 million on advertising. I'm not sure where Jolt plans on getting this money, but I'm excited to see what kind of campaign is going to unfold.

Beer and Mojitos

2007-04-14T15:31:00.000-07:00

If you go back a few posts I talked about Bud TV and how the invention of it makes me wonder if traditional advertising as we know it is slowly being eradicated. It looks like us future ad people can breathe a sigh of relief. Basically this article says that Bud TV is not generating the results Anheuser Busch had hoped for. The expensive venture, costing them an estimated 30 to 40 MILLION dollars, aims to attract 2 to 3 million viewers a month, which is fairly distant from the 152,000 people that were on the site last month. The article blames the low numbers on the fact that the site requires age identification from a valid state drivers license. Why don't they just come right out and say that part of their target audience is underage kids? Besides any savvy teens could just copy down their parents information, so I don't think that the age verification is the only factor that's hindering the site's popularity. Maybe Anheuser Busch should stick to making beer, not television.

Speaking of marketing to youth, Wrigley is under fire for their new Mint Mojito Orbit gum, with critics saying that the company is using the moniker of a rum and mint flavored drink to appeal to children. The article actually called it "mildly reprehensible" and thinks it will give way to more products being advertised with the appeal of of alcoholic beverages attached to it. Now, I am a huge fan of mojitos, they're quite tasty. I think it's slightly ridiculous to critique it so much. While I see that it could potentially be an attractor to teens, are we going to get rid of pina colada flavored candy? What about Jelly Belly jellybeans that have that flavor and margarita flavored? Can't people find better things to do with their time rather than criticize a gum company's choice of name? I'd be more concerned about what your kids are looking at on the computer not the supermarket checkout line.

Tax Fraud and Gambling

2007-04-04T11:51:00.000-07:00

Seeing as this blog's main purpose is to discuss crisis management, I went on a search for a company in crisis which was unfortunately all too easy to find. As of yesterday, Jackson Hewitt is being cited for 70 million dollars in an apparently widespread tax fraud scheme. The article linked here describes how Jackson Hewitt has swindled the IRS out of huge amounts of money by filing tax returns with false deductions, incorrect information, and phony earned income. Employees say they were encouraged to participate in this kind of illegal activity. Out of 6500 franchises the Justice Department is going after 125 stores. This is pretty crazy seeing as this is the nation's second largest tax preparer AND taxes are due in the next two weeks. It just doesn't seem like the way to position yourself- as the company that will help you prepare phony tax claims. The company itself has not issued any sort of statement or reassurance to the public, which I am surprised about seeing as those stores were only a fraction of the actual franchise, but enough to turn off potential customers. Looks like H&R Block will stay number one for quite awhile.

While I was looking around I also stumbled across an article about gambling in SecondLife, which we just discussed this morning in class. The U.S. Government has no idea, probably since nothing like this has ever happened, how to regulate casinos and gambling in the virtual world. The article basically describes how difficult it is to determine how the law translates when it comes to technology. The Linden Lab could face criminal charges if they are deemed an electronic funds transfer site, which I'm pretty sure they are, since you can exchange real money for Linden dollars to gamble with and vice versa. Anyway the law is for real life, not a virtual 3-D casino and there is no way that the Linden Lab can regulate or control the gambling...as of yet. I'm curious to see how this unfolds and as my imagination is kind of wandering...wouldn't it be interesting if there were some way to kidnap avatars? Could someone potentially hold avatars hostage on a certain island? I'm just wondering about what other problems SecondLife may face in the future concerning real world laws and translating it into the virtual world.

More trouble for Menu Foods

2007-03-31T10:54:00.000-07:00

Last week I posted about the pet food recall and showed you my adorable dogs (the small one drives me nuts). Today I'm reading that the list of foods recalled has grown even longer. This article gives a list of the recalls, along with the reiteration of how Menu Foods and the FDA are positively puzzled over how melamine, present in the foods' contaminated wheat gluten, could possibly be killing all these animals. They refuse to give the name of the company that supplied them with the tainted product that supposedly came out of China. Now I personally don't want to hear how confused the FDA is. Maybe instead of making statements like that they should be providing pet owners with regular up to date information- like how something used to make kitchenware and other plastics ended up in pet food. And the best part of the article? A tiny little sentence at the end: "The FDA was working to rule out the possibility that the contaminated wheat gluten could have made it into any human food." WHAT? That is not at all reassuring, and how exactly would tainted wheat gluten used in pet food meander its' way into people food? Of course, no explanation is given, nor is there any other information. So word to the wise- be careful if you eat any pre-packaged or processed foods from any company that happens to produce pet food.

Promoting my Blog

2007-03-31T10:41:00.000-07:00

In order to promote my blog, I've decided to join with Technorati , a website where people can search for content on blogs. I figured that this is probably one of the best ways to promote my blog since people can actually narrow down what topic they want to read about, plus I felt a little weird about e-mailing all the companies that I have bad-mouthed or criticized. I am actually hoping that I can start devoting a little more time to posting since I have read that most people tend to read blogs that are frequently updated.

Pet Food Recall

2007-03-24T11:00:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, I fall into that large percentage of Americans who are a little bit crazy about their pets. Both of mine have coats and to be honest they are quite spoiled. So it was a little scary when I saw the gigantic recall on pet food that has already claimed the life of 16 pets and has made countless others ill. 60 million cans and pouches have been recalled by Menu Foods, which sells its' food under 95 different brands, including one I use, Purina. Now, thankfully I don't feed my dogs wet food since it's bad for their teeth, but I'm sure the thousands of people that do use wet food are pretty upset. Menu Foods, which is based out of Ontario, Canada, issued a statement yesterday that the cause of the tainted food was a chemical usually used to kill rats. Now my question is how did rat poison get mixed into dog food at their production plants? The company has assured pet owners that they will pay all medical expenses but that's not restoring any trust in the brand. Over all, it seems like this company was completely unprepared for this crisis and their PR plan is not very effective. The chief executive is working with the FDA and they believe that the wheat gluten in the food was tainted, which the company confirmed was purchased in China. It just seems like they have taken no responsibility for the crisis, and of all the people that own pets in North America, you would think they would be a little more present in the media, keeping us updated and APOLOGIZING for the inconvenience and heartache they have caused pet owners. Incidentally, some of the samples are actually being tested right around the corner at Cornell. These are my dogs, Jolie and Rocco.

I just read this article about the problem with advertising-according to Paul R. la Monica, who I don't believe is even in the advertising industry, the problem is that advertisers are trying too hard to amuse people, and not effectively establishing a brand or getting the message across. But really, in a time when people don't even have to watch commercials anymore, isn't amusing or entertaining them the best way to at least grab attention about a product? I mean if a commercial is really clever or catches my eye, I will try to find out what the product is. The article praises Geico's cavemen ads, citing them as a great campaign that amuses and actually sells a product. However it points out that ABC is developing a sitcom around them and this could ruin the campaign due to overexposure of the characters, and I totally agree with that. It's just not very original and once it becomes a sitcom I think I would get pretty sick of them, along with the rest of the world. Anyway I thought it was interesting that this guy decided to tackle whats wrong with advertising and the only thing he could come up with was that some ads are too amusing-aren't those the ones we remember most?

SecondLife

2007-03-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

Our task in class on Monday was to meet in SecondLife and visit various islands. We were to take our avatars first to Leo Burnett, which is a Chicago based ad agency, and it was there that I saw for the first time a truly unconventionally designed space. The more I walked around, the more I liked what I saw. The concept of the building built into the tree and having different levels was really neat and I actually enjoyed exploring the library and sitting down and looking around. Next we went to Paper Couture, which, like the name sounds, is a chic boutique where you can buy clothes and accessories for your avatar. I LOVED it. All the cute purses and the cute outfits and they even had some stylish sunglasses, for pretty cheap. It kind of finally hit home that these businesses are great in the virtual world so I should definitely check them out in the real world. Finally, all our avatars teleported to Kawaii Ku, which is an island dedicated to what I presume to be anime. It was kind of neat with all the cartoonish graphics and it was fun to watch everybody explore. You could even buy a bowl of ramen, although it seems a little silly to spend money on food you don't really consume. I think if my company was going into SecondLife, the most important things I would tell them were to not hold back in creativity and to make it memorable. What really stands out to me are the things you can click on-the free things you can add to your inventory that maybe in a month you'll look through and remember and revisit. Plus the most memorable sites are the ones like Leo Burnett, that are so fantastical and unrealistic that they are fun and exciting to explore in the virtual landscape, because you would never see anything like it in the real world.

C For Cookie

2007-03-10T12:59:00.001-08:00

2007-03-10T12:32:00.000-08:00

Apparently Yahoo isn't as popular as I thought it was. I just read a report that AT&T may be scaling back their partnership with Yahoo. The two companies had originally joined together to help AT&T promote their DSL alternative to cable broadband, while providing Yahoo with a steady stream of advertising. However AT&T has been successful selling their product without Yahoo's help, and doesn't see the need to continue on in the partnership. This could mean bad news for Yahoo, who has similar partnerships with a few other corporations, like Verizon Wireless. While I thought this article was interesting, and I certainly thought it Yahoo was in a much better position than it appears to be, what really got me interested were the articles linked to it, that basically talked about Yahoo's decline in sales last year, and the possibility that web advertising was starting to die out. The video on that website discusses how web ads are declining and that the best option may actually be consumer created ads. Again, this kind of talk scares me, since it seems that traditional advertising is becoming obsolete and now this? An interesting response is underneath that suggests that consumer created ads are just a fad and that people actually have to care about the brand first to even think about creating an ad. So there's still hope at least that all of us advertising junkies won't be out of work in the next ten years.

I have to admit that although I thought YouTube was really stupid, people make some really clever little clips. I randomly stumbled on this V for Vendetta spoof called C is for cookie....using Cookie Monster and other Sesame Street character the director examines the question "What if the government controlled cookie consumption...." It doesn't really have anything to do PR but I thought it was catchy. Enjoy!

American Heart Association

2007-03-07T13:33:00.000-08:00

I read an article that has me kind of steamed. The article here at http://www.prwatch.org/ talks about a February press release from the drugstore Rite-Aid, confirming their partnership with the American Heart Association on their PR campaign "Go Red for Women", which aims to raise awareness of the world's number one killer, heart disease. However this is after the embarassment that the AHA experienced last year when websites showed the campaign posters smack dab in the cigarette section of some Rite-Aid's. You can see the pictures here. I cannot believe that a well respected and beneficial oganization would comply to another partnership, especially after Rite-Aid's fight against anti-tobacco legislation and fighting against raising the age of purchasing tobacco. This is an absolute travesty that could truly diminsh the campaign's credibility- who wants to fight heart disease by continuing to smoke? I think the AHA needs to denounce this partnership and follow through on their promise to tobacco control agencies. It is utterly irresponsible and a disappointment to the campaign.

BEER TV

2007-03-02T12:31:00.000-08:00

I just read an interesting article on Anheuser Busch's new 30 million dollar business venture: Bud TV linked here https://www.bud.tv. It was actually launched on broadband the day after this year's Superbowl and is geared toward 21-27 year old males. Right now the site doesn't allow user to user contact, but the introduction of BudTube (surprisingly similar to YouTube) allows consumers to generate and show off their own Bud spots, presenting an opportunity for them to become "brand ambassadors". This is a fantastic idea for Busch, but how much longer until every brand does this and people are creating such useful and creative spots for products that they longer need all their advertising and marketing specialists? They have found a clever way to reinforce the brand without being in your face over the top or potentially turning the customer off because it's so annoying. I think it's pretty cool but at the same time kind of scary when I'm graduating soon with a background more in traditional media, traditional advertising.

Dead people are not great demographics

2007-02-23T11:42:00.000-08:00

I just read an interesting article about the poor man, Vincenzo Ricardo, who was found to be dead for over a year. In this article http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=55964 advertisers claim that because this man was found in front of a television set which had been on the entire time he was dead, that means television is not being abandoned for the internet as previously thought. Apparently this man has advertisers very excited. The AAF called him " an ideal audience for ad messages", because he didn't have a TiVo and didn't get up to use the bathroom or go to the kitchen, therefore he watched commercials. Now correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think dead people get up to go to the bathroom OR watch commercials. Now, the disclaimer at the end of the article says it isn't supposed to be taken literally, it should provoke thought and merriment. I personally think this is a distasteful, disrespectful article. To see this lonely tragic death as a means of promoting advertising for television is absolutely unethical. Who cares what he was watching, he certainly will never watch anything again. Even if this article was written in jest, why not focus on the consumers that count: The ones that are ALIVE.

Check your peanut butter!

2007-02-18T14:30:00.000-08:00

Certain batches of Wal-Mart brand peanut butter and all Peter Pan peanut butter have been linked to recent outbreaks of salmonella that have made over 300 people sick nationwide. http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/02/16/peanut.butter.salmonella.ap/index.html. Investigation is still underway on how the peanut butter could have been contaminated, possibly by dirty jars or contaminated packaging equipment. Unfortunately they have had to recall all peanut butter made since May of last year since the plant that manufactures the Peter Pan is the only one of its kind. The company has asked people to throw out jars with certain codes, and also offers a full refund. The problem now is restoring faith in the brand. They not only lose a ton of money but they lost people's trust as well. Like the response to the pepsi syringe scare they need to show the peanut butter making process and assure customers that this will never happen again, that it's safe to consume their product. Lawsuits are already being filed and I'm interested to see if the company will be able to bounce back.

Update: The head of the company that produced the guerilla marketing campaign for Aqua Teen Hunger Force has spoken out about the panic he created in Boston. The article linked here http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/spotlight/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003546614

describes how he never intended to frighten people. (I certainly hope he didn't). In his interview he explains that the signs weren't even supposed to be on during the day, only at night, and wouldn't comment on whether or not the devices resembled bombs, only that they were geared to showcase a character. The full interview isn't available until tomorrow, but from the looks of it he isn't apologizing or admitting he took his tactics too far. I doubt Turner Broadcasting will be asking for his help in the future.

Jumper (VW ad)

2007-02-17T11:58:00.001-08:00

2007-02-17T11:23:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to educate the public on the effects of global warming, former Vice President Al Gore announced yesterday plans for a worldwide global concerts and fundraisers July 7. The article linked here http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=55652 describes how he will raise awareness by airing a 24 hour concert live on MSN and NBC as well as satellite radio from seven different cities and with varying musical acts sure to attract many different demographics. The proceeds from these events will go to a group headed by Gore called the Alliance for Climate Protection. I think this is a bold PR move that will have great results as long as it is publicized effectively.

Volkswagen has decided amid an outcry from mental health advocates and suicide prevention groups to pull their four day old ad titled"Jumper", which depicts a man contemplating jumping off a bridge until he learns about VW's low pricing. View it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpUGukfZnzw. The article http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfmfuseaction=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=55636 informs that this isn't the first time that VW has been under pressure to tweak their advertisements. Apparently they had a commercial that never aired that showed a Middle Eastern man setting off a bomb in a VW polo among a crowd at an outdoor cafe. The ad stated the car was so strong that the blast stayed inside. Although it never aired it created a buzz due to its' availability on the Internet, which you can view on YouTube here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arfNofxBtfY. It took VW less than 24 hours to pull the Jumper ad and put out a statement saying how their message is one of optimism but they are also sensitive and with that in mind they decided not to air that particular ad again. VW follows on the heels of GM which just pulled its' ad of a robot's dream where it committed suicide, but not in as timely a fashion as VW. A good PR move in my opinion to remove it and declare their sensitivity to mental health issues.

Oops she did it again. The queen of pop, Britney Spears, is sporting a newly shorn head, which she reportedly did herself. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,2 0012207_20012195,00.html. This follows a brief stint in rehab, where she was there for 1 day, and footage was captured at a tattoo parlor. Poor Britney can't stay out of the limelight with her current divorce proceedings and is constantly under scrutiny in the media for everything that she does. I think the girl needs to be left alone but really what better publicity than such a drastic change.

Cartoons, Anna, and You Tube the new Napster?

2007-02-10T10:46:00.000-08:00

Cartoon Network has now lost their general manager/executive vice president. Jim Samples resigned yesterday due to the debacle over the guerilla gone bad marketing campaign that frightened the entire city of Boston. The link to the story is here: http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/09/news/newsmakers/cartoon_network/index.htm?postversion=2007020914. I suppose he's being noble by stepping down but I think it's odd that one man would take full responsibility, when I'm sure a number of others were involved.

In other news, I'm sure we've all seen the unfortunate passing of blonde bombshell Anna Nicole Smith. What we are probably also seeing is the passing of the diet pill company TrimSpa. Although sales have been steadily declining, the untimely death of their spokeswoman may also mean the untimely death of the company. http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/08/smbusiness/trimspa_annanicole/index.htm?postversion=2007020915. My favorite quote from the article is "You've just pulled the rug out from under what the brand was standing on," . Unfortunately I don't think all the PR in the world can save them now, as their entire marketing position has just disappeared.

You Tube just may be the new Napster, the illegal filesharing network that was targeted and eradicated by music companies protecting their copyrights (and pockets). Media giants alike have already made them eliminate over 100,000 files of clips with copyrights from such networks as Comedy Central and MTV. The article linked here http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/09/technology/media_youtube/index.htm?postversion=2007020915 describes how media moguls must tighten the reins on video piracy and make sure they receive payment for any copyrighted clips. CBS has one upped the other networks by joining with YouTube to split revenue of any clips of CBS content that generate advertising. The main point is that these networks need to learn to work with YouTube because it is a hotbed of young web users and it can provide exposure for some programming that would not reach that demographic any other way.

Bomb scare in Boston

2007-02-04T11:44:00.001-08:00

In the past few days I would assume that most of the residents of Boston are recovering from the remnants of a guerilla marketing tactic gone bad. Very briefly, Turner Broadcasting, which owns both Cartoon Network and CNN, set up a viral marketing ploy to advertise for a Cartoon Network adult cartoon. The ploy involved deploying bomb squads around the city of Boston on Wednesday, the first city targeted in the campaign. Unfortunately Bostonians did not find this clever, humorous, or entertaining. Quite the opposite actually. Not only did it incite fear in the residents of the city, it was a major inconvenience due to the closing of two bridges, traffic jams, and temporary suspension of mass transit while officials searched for other "bombs".

I can completely understand why the people that invented this thought it would be a wonderful marketing tactic. Obviosuly not only Boston, but the entire nation is effected by this news. How outrageous that in the middle of a war on terror someone would think to simulate terrorist attacks as a means of getting you to watch something on television? How brilliant. I know that my interest is piqued over what they're advertising, and now I might want to make an effort to see what it was they were trying so hard to market. Although it created a huge reaction and a lot of negative press, sometimes negative press is better than no press at all. How convenient that the first news outlet to report the scares was CNN. In the end however, the only thing so far that the chairman of Turner Broadcasting has done is issue an apology and a promise to pay for restitution. http://www.thebostonchannel.com/newsarchive/10894969/detail.html
Although this has been a costly backfire on a marketing campaign, in the end I think it created more press than it ever would have. The only problem is going to be restoring faith in the credibility and ethics of the Turner Broadcasting Corporation and I am interested in seeing how they will implement a public relations strategy in this time of crisis of morals.