Guerrilla Advertising Gone Wild!

Advertising has been the name of the game in broadcasting since its inception. But when does advertising go beyond what is acceptable? Many media consumers are asking that question now as we face digitization and "internetization" of our media. Will we accept advertising as it is now, lengthy and obtrusive, or will we say "to heck with it" and TiVo everything once that technology becomes available? I think the latter will prevail and that is why broadcasters are using drastic and somehow distasteful means to advertise their shows and their sponsors.

Cartoon Network launched an advertising ploy on the streets of 10 major U.S. cities that featured distorted portrayals of the characters from their hit show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." While this seems innocent enough, the switchboards used to project these images on bridges and in other public places instigated fear of terrorism in Boston on January 31. Bomb squads were called in, bridges were closed, Cartoon Network executive vice president Jim Sample resigned, and Turner Broadcasting and its advertising affiliates are out $2 million.

Now, who is to blame? I was quick to say that Cartoon Network made a stupid marketing decision (the Nielsen ratings for "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" stayed almost the same the week after the advertising campaign as the week before) but now I am starting to realize that this type of unwarranted panic is an element of the current American mindset. The United States lives in a constant state of fear of terrorism so much so that a switchboard that projects an image of a cartoon character can be mistaken for an explosive! However, Cartoon Network did not make the best decision in placing these projectors on sensitive structures like bridges. According to an unofficial poll taken on ABCNews.com as of today, 12,499 out of 15,617 blame the local, state and federal authorities for blowing this "prank" out of proportion while only 1,789 pollsters thought Turner Broadcasting was to blame for its negligence to alert the authorities of their campaign.

In the greater sense, I think we are all to blame. The broadcasters are to blame for stuffing their advertising down our throats, or putting suspicious electronic boxes on our bridges. We are to blame for assuming anything out of the ordinary is something to fear. I say advertising needs to shift from guerrilla and repetitive to creative and provocative. It will have to or everyone will own a TiVo before the broadcasters can blink an eye.

Harry R. Webber. "Cartoon Network Head Resigns After Scare." ABC News. 10 Feb 2007.