Clowns hate tangelos.
July 11th, 2006
By now a lot of you have seen the red billboards around your town with messages like “I’m a hot toe picker,” or “I pooted,” and, of course, “Clowns hate tangelos.” And that’s all they say – no logo or other messaging is there. Well, I’ve seen them too. And when I got back home and invested five minutes on Google, I came to find out they are references to lines from different characters on the Cartoon Network.
When discussing these boards with others, I was asked, “so is that word of mouth?” My answer: No. It’s good advertising. And not only because it’s an inside joke. Those regular Cartoon Network watchers automatically are in the know. And those of us that aren’t Cartoon Network fans are intrigued enough to find out. Will people talk about them? Absolutely (as evidenced by this post). So, yes, there will be some word of mouth generated because of it. But the genesis of it is advertising.
Your thoughts?
Other posts by Spike.
bryan says:
definitely awesome. I had the privilege of seeing the “pooting” character in an ad during the preshow of a most recent flick before seeing the first “I pooted” billboard. I cracked right up when I saw it and remember the goofy little character running around the screen acting like a horse and then finally at the end informing everyone that he had “pooted”.
great stuff. reminiscent of the ren and stimpy days.
at last glance I noticed that they added the character and the CN logo.
July 11th, 2006 at 6:05 amSpike says:
Ah, I haven’t seen the additions yet.
Thanks for the comment, bryan.
July 11th, 2006 at 7:35 amDarren says:
I saw the Clowns hate sign and the pooted signs in Hartford and New Haven
July 13th, 2006 at 2:16 pmpaul says:
Saw one traveling through Greenville yesterday - on 385.
They do have the Cartoon Network logo on ‘em, in the corners — which I think is a good idea. It may be an inside joke to the watchers, but if they do want to extend the invitation (and they do), people have to know where to join in.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:23 amjbelkin says:
A tease is supposed to intrigue you enough but is the payoff worth the effort on the part of the consumer? Yes, it is a stealth message and a wink to current watchers - but who is intrigued enough by the words CLOWNS HATE TANGELOS to follow through? The Cartoon Network logo is good but do I need to wade through the 75 shows airing on CN to determine whoch one is the clown hating tangelo show - and are clown hateing tangelos worthy for me to seek out and watch?
Is it more of an ego boost and noise for upfront season?
July 16th, 2006 at 10:57 pmScott P. says:
I have seen the Clowns hate tangelos billboard, and my sister has seen the I’m a hot toe picker billboard. By the way, a tangelo is not a tangerine/orange mix, it actually is a mandarine orange/grapefruit cross. Guess clowns hate tangelos because its brainfood! Are these billboards interesting enough to catch attention? The answer is YES….point proved.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:19 am