Category:
Publicity Stunts
Publicity Stunts
Love letters from Fiat
Fiat's 1994 Love Letters campaign has to rank as one of the most poorly-thought-out marketing campaigns of all time.
Morristown Daily Record - Mar 13, 1994
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jul 20, 2024 -
Comments (2)
Category: Publicity Stunts, 1990s, Cars
Trapeze Artist Swallows Watch
"About a week ago Miss Nichols missed her watch. Since she occasionally places valuables in her mouth at night for safe keeping, she feared she might have swallowed the timepiece."I'm sure Miss Tarzana Nichols really went to the hospital, but I'd be willing to bet that the reason she went was just a stunt to get her name in the papers. Free publicity for her act.
Kansas City Star - Oct 11, 1934
Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 07, 2021 -
Comments (4)
Category: Publicity Stunts, 1930s
The Stunts of TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES Radio Show
Many folks of a certain age might recall TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES as a TV show. But it began on radio in 1940, and was known for its far-out stunts, as detailed on this page.Excerpt below.
A 1942 contestant told Edwards that her 17 year old son was serving in the Marines - as if Edwards didn’t know this in advance when she was “randomly” selected to appear on the show. Her consequence was to count pennies - pennies mailed to her home by listeners to buy War Bonds for her son. Broadcasting magazine reported within a week that the woman received 301,464 coins, mostly pennies, totaling over $3,100. Variety reported that after ten days the amount of mail had reached 236,000 pieces and the amount was $3,560. To handle the massive amount of mail Edwards temporarily rented office space and hired 200 clerks to pick it up, open it, count the money and track the postmarks to learn where it came from, valuable research for NBC and sponsor Procter & Gamble.
Edwards sent a 1944 contestant on an involved and hilarious search for a thousand dollars that climaxed after a month with listeners mailing 18,000 old books to the man‘s home which were donated to servicemen and veterans’ hospitals - after the contestant was directed to leaf through the books to find the missing half of a thousand dollar bill sent to him by the show.
The fact that they gave out big money prizes didn't hurt their popularity either.
Source: Lancaster New Era (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) 08 Dec 1947, Mon Page 3
Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 25, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Money, Publicity Stunts, Radio, 1940s
Captain Yancey and His Fabulous Autogyro
Source of clipping: Quad-City Times (Davenport, Iowa) 03 Jul 1931, Fri Page 1
Good article here.
The Pitcairn PCA-2 autogyro was developed in 1931 and proved to be a reliable, unique aircraft. The rotor at its top was unpowered and it flew more like a fixed wing aircraft than a helicopter, based on the power from its radial engine on the nose. Once at speed, the rotor spun based on aerodynamic forces alone thus generating lift. It was an amazing sight and attracted crowds wherever it flew. By April of 1931, the autogyro had flown across the United States at the hands of John M. Miller, had landed on the White House lawn (by test pilot Jim Ray), and had soared to a new altitude record of 18,415 feet (this being Amelia Earhart’s record).
Seizing upon the press interest in the design, the Champion Spark Plug company purchased one and painted the sides with their logo and named it “Miss Champion”. It was the perfect flying billboard. After hiring Captain Lewis “Lew” Yancey, a former Naval Lieutenant and USCG officer who was a maritime captain, they directed that he fly the nation on an advertising tour. By the end of 1931, Captain Yancey had flown the autogyro 6,500 miles, transiting 21 states and touching down in 38 cities around the nation. Yet the Champion Spark Plugs company still wanted more attention — and thus they asked him to beat Amelia Earhart’s altitude record as well.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 05, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Inventions, Publicity Stunts, World Records, Advertising, Air Travel and Airlines, 1930s
So easy a four-year-old can do it
From Newsweek - Jan 2, 1950:The Phillips-Jones Corp. was sure last week it had found the answer to the declining market for men's dress and business shirts in its Van Heusen Century. The Century's collar, the company says, cannot wrinkle, curl, or wilt. Dec. 21, as Phillips-Jones salesmen gathered in a New York hotel for a sales convention, the company proceeded to show how easy it was to iron the shirt by having a young miss of 4, Pamela Gaughan, take the stage and wield the iron.
Pamela doesn't look like she's having fun.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jul 30, 2021 -
Comments (6)
Category: Publicity Stunts, Children, 1950s
The Mystery Girl from the World of Autodynamics
In late 1956, a celebrity in disguise as the "Mystery Girl from the World of Autodynamics" toured car shows and dealerships. The public was challenged to guess her identity to have a chance to win a new 1957 Dodge.Can you guess who she was? The answer is below in extended.
Here's a hint. She's not an A-list celebrity, but we've posted about her before on WU.
North Hollywood Valley Times - Nov 24, 1956
More in extended >>
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 28, 2021 -
Comments (4)
Category: Publicity Stunts, 1950s, Cars
Fingernail Birthday Party—and Necklace
Read the whole story with more pix here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Apr 17, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Body, Human Marvels, Movies, Publicity Stunts, 1930s
Wild Party, 1905 Style
After the article, you can view one of Madame Gabrielle Réjane's silent films.Her Wikipedia page, with some great photos.
Source of article: The Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois) 05 Feb 1905, Sun Page 3
Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 13, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Dinners, Banquets, Parties, Tributes, Roasts and Other Celebrations, Movies, Publicity Stunts, Public Indecency, 1900s, Dance
Finding a needle in a haystack
ARTnews reports that the artist Sven Sachsalber recently died at the young age of 33. Sachsalber's most famous work, which Chuck posted about in 2014, was when he spent two days searching for, and eventually finding, a needle hidden in a haystack.
Some of Sachsalber's other works (or 'performances') included:
- Completing, with his father, a 13,200-piece puzzle of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam
- Eating a poisonous mushroom
- Spending 24 hours in a room with a cow
For whatever it's worth, Sachsalber wasn't the first person to try and find a needle in a haystack. Legendary publicist Jim Moran did the exact same stunt back in 1939.
Popular Science - July 1939
Note: despite what the caption says, Moran did find the needle.
He then sent it to the Smithsonian.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Dec 22, 2020 -
Comments (5)
Category: Publicity Stunts, Homages, Pastiches, Tributes and Borrowings, Performance Art, Obituaries
Roy Mack’s milk-diet tour
Roy Mack set off from New York on May 2, 1939, intending to walk to San Francisco. To make this more of a challenge, he decided to do this while living on a diet of only milk — about six quarts of it a day. He said he wanted to "prove you can live on milk." The media dubbed him the "human milk bottle."By August he had reached Oklahoma City and had also lost 10 pounds in weight. He maintained this was due to all the exercise, not his milk diet.
I have no idea if he ever did reach San Francisco, because I can't find any news reports about him after Oklahoma City. Perhaps the milk diet got the better of him.
Pittsburgh Press - June 3, 1939
Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 30, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Food, Publicity Stunts, Travel, 1930s, Dieting and Weight Loss
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |