Stupid Ad Stunt Goes Wrong and Why.

There is no doubt that the Cartoon Network's Aqua Teen Force Boston Blunder might be the hammer that takes down guerila marketing for the next few years. My opinion is that this has hurt guerilla marketing more than either Cartoon Network or the City of Boston. You look back at the event and there were some lame brained executional mishaps that could have put this thing to bed. Here's a list:
1) Use something people know. An electronic divice outlining an obscure character on a n obscure cartoon might get noticed but not understood.
2) Man your promotion. Interference Inc. should have had people standing by to explain and protect the electronic plaques in the city. Actually, there is evidence that Peter Berdovsky was videotaping the bob squad as were removing what they thought was a bomb.
3) Have a backup plan in case things go wrong. The PR was a knee jerk reaction that was handled only with a huge wad of cash. The promotion group should have had a staff that was ready to deal with the PR that morning by calling radio stations and news media outlets immediately.

If you are writing a marketing text book this is a great case to review. I wonder what would have happened if some body like Odwalla or FireFox, brands with a pension for guerilla marketing, could have gotten away with this. The fact is that no one really know what the brand was even after the gig was up. While cartoon network is doing some of the most creative work in Atlanta, the adult swim portion is still a small segment of the TV population. I wonder what would happen is they spent their $2MM and added another $500k for a SuperBowl spot on Sunday.

Also, Boston? Boston??? Not exactly a city government known for its free spirit. There was no way they were going to let these guys off the hook.