Gross Body Parts and Public Relations
Sometimes we see a headline and we simply have to read the story behind it. I try to keep my eye on the news items that flow through industries of interest for me. I was perusing the daily email I receive from Ad Age when I came across the following headline: “Giant Human Colon Makes Times Square PR Debut”. So, do you think I clicked on the link for the rest of that story? Darn right I did.
I was mildly horrified to find that the story was much like what the headline indicated. “[T]here it was last week, a 20-foot-long inflatable organ beckoning consumers to enter and explore its diseased insides. It was all part of a colorectal-cancer-awareness campaign conducted by the Prevent Cancer Foundation and pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis.” Yep. There’s nothing quite like the idea of walking through a big ol’ simulated colon. Seriously, there are about a gazillion things I could write about how comical that is. “What’s that funny smell in Times Square?” “Who Needs DisneyWorld When You Can Visit the Giant Colon?” The list is endless.
And that makes the point that I guess the folks at Prevent Cancer Foundation and Sanofi-Aventis were going for. The fact is that this is something that can be talked about and actually has a “hook” to make it interesting. Let’s be honest, no matter how critical a subject this is, you could do a thousand seminars pushing “colorectal cancer awareness”, and you’d never get the same kind of publicity you get when you drop a 20-foot inflatable colon in Times Square.
So what does this tell us? All kinds of things about what’s really worthwhile from a marketing perspective. None are shocking.
- Public relations is mighty important.
- The unusual is effective and the odd is viral.
- Almost no subject is off limits.
Public relations is mighty important. DUH! Figuring out ways to get free press is always important. The unusual is effective and the odd is viral. No shock there either. But the potential for “viral” is more powerful now than it ever was before. Stories of good customer service or great products (or rotten customer service and awful produts) make the rounds in no time now through blogs, websites, social networks (and occasionally even traditional news outlets) in no time. Almost No Subject is Off Limits. For goodness sakes, in this case, there was a serious subject driven home via an inflatable colon. And the word began to spread. So is thinking about PR impact worthwhile? Absolutely. As it’s sung in Gypsy, “You Gotta Have a Gimmick.” The folks at Prevent Cancer Foundation and Sanofi-Aventis have done a GREAT job with it. My hat is off to them.
One final note and it relates to the topic at hand: spreading the word! If you like what you’ve read in this and other posts so far on Well Worth It, I hope you’ll consider subscribing. You can do it via RSS along the right side of this page, or you can click in the Want to Be Notified of a New Post section on the right. If you provide me your e-mail address, I’ll be happy to shoot you an e-mail every time I’ve posted a new entry. Don’t worry: I won’t spam you with other stuff, and I won’t share your e-mail address. Nor will I make you walk through a 20-foot inflatable colon!
