CRAZY PUBLICITY STUNTS

THE TRAIN WRECK (1896)

In the 1890’s the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad organized a

public train crash. Unfortunately, and perhaps unsurprisingly,

several people were killed.

BIKE RACE (1903)

Around the turn of the 20th century there was a newspaper in France

called “The Car”. “The Car” decided to organize a really long bike

race as a marketing effort. It was the first Tour de France.

STEAL MY IDENTITY (2008)

To prove how effective LifeLock is as a personal identity

protection company, the CEO posted his social security number on

the side of a van and invited people to try stealing his identity.

Only 1 person managed to get a $500 loan. Not bad for a

globally publicized challenge.

BOTTLED MESSAGES (1959)

In 1959 beer company Guinness dropped several hundred thousand

beer bottles into the ocean with promotional messages. Apparently

they hoped that people on the beach would become customers.

THE ULTIMATE HUMAN CHAIN (1986)

Nearly 8 million people came together across 16 states in the US to

form a chain raising money for the hungry and homeless. Each person

had to pay $10 for their spot in line.

SUPERHERO MARKETING (1993)

When sales of D.C. comics started falling they came out with a

comic title “The Death of Superman”. Sales shot back up.

TACO LIBERTY BELL (1996)

Taco Bell paid for an ad in The New York Times that claimed they had

bought the liberty bell and were renaming it the “Taco Liberty Bell”.

Numerous complaints later they admitted it was an April Fool’s Joke.

LEFT HANDED WHOPPER (1998)

Not to be outdone, Burger King decided to come out with a Whopper

that “better fit the needs of left handed people” by shifting the

insides for more optimal weight redistribution.

It was also an April Fool’s Day joke.

COLA CANNON (1998)

Richard Branson decided to launch Virgin Cola by driving a tank

down Fifth Ave in NYC and shooting the Coca Cola sign.