Monday, January 31, 2005

Annals of Advertising: I

Take Me to Your Consumer
Advertising, The Final Frontier . . .
Friday night newsroom switchboards across Durban, South Africa were jammed with callers reporting five strange green lights moving slowly across the sky. Had the aliens finally come to sort us out? Actually, it was a only carefully-choreographed publicity stunt to promote the launching of Qatar Airlines.

Serial Killer Ad Pushes Panic Button . . .
A British TV station which sent out fake dossiers telling people they were being stalked by a serial killer was branded "utterly reprehensible" by police chiefs last night. Channel Five's "sick gimmick" involved posting out packages, complete with hoax death scene photographs and chilling pictures of past "victims", warning the recipient that people with the same surname were being picked off by a multiple murderer.

Small but Tough
Undermined by a New Breed of Pirates . . .
Lee and Dan, the mysterious designers of the exploding bomber VW add wherever they are, are among a growing number of media savvy citizens who are creating unsolicited, often unwelcome advertising for companies. Others are going so far to pose as company executives and make statements before an unsuspecting press. Does this spell the end of Advertising as we know it?

2-01-05 Update: Lee Ford and Dan Brooks have apologized to the car company, and Volkswagen has agreed to call off its lawyers.

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