As we predicted earlier this year, if we continue to annoy people with advertising, they'll continue to strike back. And it doesn't matter if you think this was a real threat or that the folks of Boston over-reacted, the potential impact will be the same. Just look at what happened to network TV after Nipplegate! Not everyone felt that this was the panic that Boston reported, just look at what the Seattle spokesperson had to say:
"In this day and age, whenever anything remotely suspicious shows up, people get concerned — and that's good," King County sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart said. "However, people don't need to be concerned about this. These are cartoon characters giving the finger."
Given that this promotion had been in several other cities and it now seems that that they were in Bost0n for a week or two prior to this whole fiasco, it's hard to know what triggered the sudden reaction. Many people on the boards I'm reading think that it was called in on purpose just to start the press going and, if that's true, that would be a much more serious issue. I mean, it's one thing if this just got out of hand. It's totally another thing if they actually created the panic.
Of course, even if the rumors are completely false, there's still lots of complaints about how long it took them to fess up. That delay only adds fire to the rumors that it was a little more calculated then it would appear.
But, as I said at the start, real or imagined, the more we piss people off, the more they're going to look for more control. And part of that could be legislation, which wouldn't be good for any of us. Yes, we want people to be talking about and engaging our brands, but it shouldn't mean closing down an entire city! Sure, it's easy for us folks in NYC to laugh about how silly the folks in Boston were being, but if it were our bridges and roads shut down, it would be a different story. And yes it's true, that even if Turner has to pay the $750,000 fine, they got a great deal on a media buy this week. But, if the final cost is an elimination of a marketing tool, would that make it worth it?
In the end, I don't think we'll actually see legislation. It will be just too difficult to define exactly what a nitwit guerilla campaign is! But it will have a more immediate impact on what we do every day. Clients will be more risk-adverse and that will just make it harder for us to do our jobs. If it turns out that they actually planned on creating this fiasco, then that will make our lives even harder. Let's just hope it was dumb luck.
Calling it a threat to public safety, Mayor Thomas M. Menino is now pushing to ban all guerrilla marketing campaigns in the wake of the covert advertising scheme that sparked chaos across the Hub.
Menino told the Herald he had discussions with Time Warner honcho Dick Parsons and Turner Broadcasting CEO Phil Kent yesterday in which he expressed his dismay. Turner hired New York guerrilla-ad agency Interference Inc. to promote the Cartoon Network’s “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” and OK’d the company’s underground marketing tactics.
“This nitwit technique has no place in our city,” Menino said last night. “This nitwit guerrilla advertising paralyzed the city for 14 hours. It’s unacceptable.”
Link: Mayor: Ban ‘nitwit’ guerrilla marketing - Local & Regional - BostonHerald.com.
Link: NJ.com: NewsFlash - 2 men released from jail in hoax case.
Link: Soflow - View Forum - The Boston Bomb Scare Was *Not* Viral Marketing - Version 1.3.1.
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