Corporate America gets in on the pranks
September 16th, 2008
Maybe you’ve heard about the new urban prankster groups all around America by now. It’s been going on for a while and in some ways can be traced back to Improv Everywhere, the group that sent 80 people into a Best Buy store in 2006 dressed in blue shirts and khaki pants to mill around the store and help customers. Or all those folks who showed up in Grand Central Station and froze in place for three minutes. Or the new flash mobs. It seems that there are many new groups popping up all over the place.
According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal (thanks, Brandy), the “events” are organized almost completely online and could be just about anything:
Cities are being swept up in a wave of inane pranks. On a recent weekend, “zombies” smeared with fake blood idly roamed the streets in downtown San Francisco. That same weekend, a crowd of people in New York’s Union Square danced to music that no one else could hear; and in Berkeley, Calif., jokesters in white, flowing robes handed out pamphlets at a farmer’s market, touting the benefits of joining a cult. (Reason No. 5: “A great excuse not to talk to your birth family anymore.”)
On one side, a lot of the participants are joining the groups because they like the sense of community, but on the not-so-good side, as desperate corporate America is sometimes when it comes to advertising, now companies like Taco Bell and Yahoo are hiring these groups to stage pranks.
So the next time you see a group prank that might seem random, it could actually be just another ad. So watch your back.
Other posts by Spike.
BIG Kahuna says:
So if a company hires someone to do some guerilla marketing then it’s bad according to you? But if you do it naturally (without being paid) it’s okay? Is that what you’re saying, just want to understand the post.
September 16th, 2008 at 6:30 amSpike says:
I’m saying that it makes me sad when corporate America takes something that brings people together in the name of fun and fellowship and uses it for their own gain. And don’t forget about transparency. Is the company letting people know that they are paying these groups to do these pranks? If it can be done in a transparent way that doesn’t make the participants feel like they’re selling out, then I’m all for it.
September 16th, 2008 at 6:47 amBIG Kahuna says:
Gotcha, so I would take it you think this is bad then: http://iphonehelp.in/2008/08/22/orange-hires-actors-to-stand-in-line-for-the-iphone-in-poland/
September 16th, 2008 at 7:45 amBIG Kahuna says:
What’s the solution if a company wants to do pranks? Do they need to hand out fliers or make signs saying sponsored by ________? Kind of takes away from the “prank” feel.
I think it’s gimmicky and have never recommended it but what’s the happy medium?
September 16th, 2008 at 8:04 amMr. Steve says:
Scott,
Yes, what Orange did is bad…and not only that, it’s not a prank and it’s not ethical. It’s deception. And it isn’t even marketing…it’s a scam.
If companies want to get in on the act, fine…but find a way to do it without people walking away feeling like they’ve been lied to.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:29 amAlvaH says:
I have to disagree as well with Spike’s final comment. I don’t see why it’s wrong for “corporate America” to enjoy a tasty prank.
I also don’t know why I should be warned that a prank might be an ad. If I enjoy seeing the prank, my enjoyment isn’t somehow lessened because a corporation put the prank together.
September 17th, 2008 at 7:22 amolivier Blanchard says:
Cool on the pranks… sad on the corporate bandwagon thing.
That being said, a campaign like the one put on by HBO for True Blood (see Geno’s post) could mesh well with something like this. It’s all about context. If a company is going to hijack the medium, the message of the prank has to make sense. It can’t be attention grabbing just for the sake of it. As important: Cool, fun and inspired has to clearly outweigh the canned, self-serving vibe that this type of corporate exercise might take on. It’s a very fine line that I doubt too many companies will be able to walk.
I’m not sure what a Taco Bell, Chevrolet or General Electric would gain from a stunt like this, for example. NBC, Coca Cola, Ray Ban and Levis might be able to turn something like it to their advantage if they understand how not to step over that line though. (A series of “Heroes” themed stunts in NYC could be pretty neat. Hundreds of folks taking a Coca Cola break in the middle of Times Square at the exact same time would be pretty attention-grabbing. Hundreds of people taking off their 501 jeans at laundromats throughout San Francisco or Seattle at precisely the same time (remember that TV ad) might also be pretty fun.
Kind of neat, but a stunt is basically just a stunt, and this one has a VERY short shelf life. In the end, a single-shot tactic, no matter how cool and memorable, can’t take the place of solid strategy.
I hope these pranks continue to remain kind of random. It adds to their charm.
September 20th, 2008 at 2:45 pm