Icebreakers Pacs...what were they thinking?
The little blue packets contain what is basically mint flavored sweetener.
The powdery substance would be an acceptable product; however, it is contained in a plastic baggy that makes it look like cocaine! Already a Philadelphia cop has been quoted by the American Chronicle as saying "New mint packets being sold by The Hershey Company look nearly identical to the tiny heat-sealed bags used to sell illegal powdered drugs like crack, heroin and cocaine and glorify the drug trade." I'm not sure I agree with him that the packets "glorify the drug trade" but they certainly look suspicious! If I saw a dude at the bar whip one of these out to freshen his breath I would be extremely shocked. I wonder who's getting fired over this one?
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Marketing Campaign
It is so sad that this went as badly as it did because I thought that it was really a really creative and unique form of guerilla marketing! The marketing team for the ATHF movie created these great little LCD light boxes and put them up all around different cities in the U.S. Unfortunately it created a bomb scare in Boston, causing the Boston police to go wild, shutting down streets and bringing out SWAT teams. Below is a video I found on YouTube of the guys setting up the light boxes. The marketing campaign wasn't meant to create chaos or panic, it was just a new method of advertising! I wonder if it would have created such chaos if our country wasn't in such a constant state of fear...it will be interesting to see if more guerilla marketing tactics end up scaring police, or if it will become a new trend that we all get used to.
McPizza?
I don't know why I don't remember this but apparently McDonald's tried selling pizza for 5 years! The other day in my marketing class the professor was lecturing about different reasons why some marketing campaigns don't pan out. His first example was McDonald's attempt at selling pizza! Between 1992 and 1997 the company attempted to sell a 'McPizza' that was similar to an apple-pie, and also tried selling a 'McDonald's Pizza.' The original plan was to have a family sized pizza to be served and eaten at the McDonald's restaurants. When this didn't work so well they scaled the pizza size down to a more take-out friendly, personal-slice size. Ultimately the pizza did not work out because, as my professor pointed out, people don't go to McDonald's for pizza...you go there for hamburgers and fries! People go to Pizza Hut for pizza...and it should stay that way. Better luck next time...
Oh, and just because I couldn't find any ads from the McPizza era I decided to give you this gem of a video! Anyone remember the fast-food song from elementary school? If so, you'll get a laugh or two out of this...
3 comments:
No doubt about it. The fear factor is taking all the fun out of freedom of expression. What does the dominant paradigm expect? That we'll all shut up and eat fast food? The Icebreaker thing is a hilarious example of "what were they thinking?" Kind of like those school pens modeled on syringes.
Oh my goodness. That was a great video. I really wish the mooninite thing had worked out. I thought it was great! If the people who run Boston had a little pop culture knowledge (or someone told them?) then it wouldn't have been a big deal. Or if the government didn't make everyone terrified post-9/11 it might not also have been thought to be a "bomb" threat. I don't even know where they came up with that.
And the little ice breaker baggies with white powder in them?...they must know the people of Boston.
p.s. I really love your blog. It's well written and fun to read. I like pretty much all of the topics.
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