guerilla marketing backfires...

petergunn

plywood violin
guerilla/viral marketing for Aqua Teen Hunger Force... people thought the boxes used to project the light images of the ATHF charectors on buildings or whatever were bombs.... boston goes bezerk... cops arrested the kid the ad agency paid to do it. he was a mass artist student

i am glad this blew up in their face, as i hate that type of marketing w/ a passion ("LOOK, SOMEONE DID SOME GRAFFITI ABOUT PLAY STATION!!!!!" or "THIS IS MY BLOG ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE (INSERT PRODUCT HERE). I AM A REAL PERSON, HONEST."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/02/01/froth_fear_and_fury/
 

polystyle

Well-known member
Hmm, can all the press and general public attention ATH Force recieved be called 'backfire' tho ?
Lots of peeps who may never have heard of the Aqua's will have by now ...

The stuff was there for ... 2 weeks !
which points up a whole 'nother Boston/US (in)security issue

Somewhere a talking meatball is larfing !
 
N

nomadologist

Guest
peter, did you see the one on delancey just off the W-burg bridge??? when i saw it i was like "all of the for Aqua Teen?? doesn't everyone already watch this and buy the DVD's who is going to want to??" it's a weirdly minimalist light display of one of the mooninites
 
P

Parson

Guest
Turner said the devices have been in place for two or three weeks in Boston; New York City; Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Atlanta, Georgia; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; San Francisco, California; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

However, only in Boston did the light boards create such a furor. In Seattle and several suburbs, the signs were removed without fuss, according to The Associated Press.
 

MATT MAson

BROADSIDE
I imagine they are all gone now but it would be fun to go steal one. I might go look by the W'burg bridge. It's like an easter egg hunt for tragic hipsters.
 

petergunn

plywood violin
I imagine they are all gone now but it would be fun to go steal one. I might go look by the W'burg bridge. It's like an easter egg hunt for tragic hipsters.

they are selling for a lot of money on ebay now!

yes, being from boston, i can testify this def. an example of boston's inferiority complex to nyc, like boston really wants to put itself on the same level as NYC, so they figured they must be due for some sort of attack...

it's also a great example of cop mentality, where

a) they have no idea who these charecotrs are

b) they see a box that looks like a fucking Lite Brite and figure it's a bomb...
 

dominic

Beast of Burden
@ peter -- yes, rather unfortunate that this group of pranksters are in fact marketers of some late nite comedy show

b/c the prank in and of itself quite effectively shows how "insecure" the country really is

which is not to say, of course, that what this country needs is more security -- that would be oppressive and insufferable and a colossal waste of money, i.e., the security industry as the fastest growing sector of the economy

it is to say, rather, that the police and the state should stop pretending that they can ensure the safety of the population at large against "terrorists." they should stop pretending that they are so damn effective and in charge of the situation.
 
P

Parson

Guest
anyway at the end of the day its the cops who look dumb

athf is more awesome than ever

paranoid fear mongering took a big blow this week and we're all better off for it
 

wonk_vitesse

radio eros
guerilla/viral marketing for Aqua Teen Hunger Force... people thought the boxes used to project the light images of the ATHF charectors on buildings or whatever were bombs.... boston goes bezerk... cops arrested the kid the ad agency paid to do it. he was a mass artist student

i am glad this blew up in their face, as i hate that type of marketing w/ a passion ("LOOK, SOMEONE DID SOME GRAFFITI ABOUT PLAY STATION!!!!!" or "THIS IS MY BLOG ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE (INSERT PRODUCT HERE). I AM A REAL PERSON, HONEST."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/02/01/froth_fear_and_fury/

bit of an own goal there surely, your post had all your baggage attached to it, i know it's the board mods allow u to do this but it's best left blank coz it colours (spelt in correct English) what u say?


i'm not in favour the viral marketing bollox but it does show u how far Boston is up it's own arse, it was the only city to react in such a way.
 

petergunn

plywood violin
bit of an own goal there surely, your post had all your baggage attached to it, i know it's the board mods allow u to do this but it's best left blank coz it colours (spelt in correct English) what u say?


i'm not in favour the viral marketing bollox but it does show u how far Boston is up it's own arse, it was the only city to react in such a way.

i have no idea what you are going on about...
 

MATT MAson

BROADSIDE
Turner were fined $750,000. For all the coverage they've had, this will probably be the most efficient ad spend of 2007.
 

dwaggin

stone by day
To me, this campaign was a fuck up by Turner, and a shallow echo of what I hated about Boston people when I lived there. What I think happened is two art students in Boston (about my age, too) were paid by an ad agency that does viral marketing to help the Aqua Teen campaign in Boston. In cities across the U.S. these lights go ignored or just simply become part of the media brickoelaj. Boston police are spammed with calls by individuals who recognize the Mooninite characters, and want to have some fun with the city's insecurities. They acted alone, but played into the virus. Well, that's what I think. I also think the cult fandom of Aqua Teen won't attract any more fans out of this campaign. The lights were quietly removed in other cities, and this definately would have gone unnoticed if not for the BPD. Boston's Aqua Teen fans loved this I'd bet, but this pissed off the majority which can't even recognize a late night cartoon character. I would be pleased to see this end viral marketing, too. But, the effect of the campaign is still rolling on. The result is stupid wins.

I have watched and loved Space Ghost for over 10 years, so the fact that Aqua Teen (which is a spin off of Space Ghost) was the show being promoted in this campaign, is (personally I say) fucked up.
 
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swears

preppy-kei
i have no idea what you are going on about...

He's saying it's hypocritical of you to criticise viral marketing when you have links to various projects you're involved in under your posts. That's pretty straightfoward marketing if you ask me, though.
 

petergunn

plywood violin
He's saying it's hypocritical of you to criticise viral marketing when you have links to various projects you're involved in under your posts. That's pretty straightfoward marketing if you ask me, though.

ah, i see...

yeah, have to agree to disagree on that one...

it's not like i have a bunch of fake dissensus accounts and post about how much i love Pure Fire... that would be viral... saying "i have a party, come to it," couldn't be more straightfoward...
 
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