I simply loved the image from today’s New York Post that shows an arm dangling from the trunk of a NYC taxi cab next to a sticker promoting the new season of “The Sopranos.” It juxtaposed nicely, and I’m sure coincidentally (no one’s that clever!), with the testimony by Guardian Angel Curtis Sliwa who described his escape from a NYC taxi cab in which Gotti henchman tried to kill him. (Even good fella Henry Hill made news today.)
For the Sopranos’ promo, what a great and inspired PR stunt! One problem: it was conceived and executed by the ad agency for the hit HBO series — BBDO. Huh? Since when do ad execs know how to do media-worthy publicity stunts? Well, folks, get used to it. More and more, client are charging their ad agencies to create creative that makes news. Take Burger King’s “Subservient Chicken” site created by BK’s Miami-based ad agency Crispin Porter Bogusky.
We as practitioners better get back on the schtick before we’re subservient to the long-time purchasers of time and space.