There’s no such thing as bad publicity, goes the myth, but of course we all know that there’s publicity that is so terrible that it can destroy a brand or a person in one quick swoosh.
For someone seeking fame and fortune like Miley Cyrus, bad publicity might work wonders, but for big brands or public figures it could cost valuable market share or an entire career.
Advertisers can plaster streets with billboards, buy endless space in newspapers, and hog airtime the best that they can afford, but nothing, absolutely nothing, works as effectively as ‘bad’ publicity gone wrong (or rather, terribly right).
Take Red Bull for example. When it was first launched it was banned from different parts of the world presumably because of its high Taurine content. Today we all know how that story went down and how beneficial that initial ban was to the drink that gives you wings.
A similar situation just happened with a forthcoming local production called ‘Jien Inhobb, Inti Thobb’. The play deals with gay adoption, IVF, surrogacy, sexuality and all those annoying mole hills that we like to make mountains of.
The performance was launched just over a week ago and like most theatrical productions has little, if any, marketing budget to promote itself.
Up until yesterday in fact not many had heard of it, even less knew what it’s about, and not many had made plans to go watch it. But then, the best thing that could have happened to this performance did - every marketer’s dream come true.
A twenty something guy, who goes by the name of Matthew Grech took the time to produce a little selfie-video to vociferously condemn the play and, to quite literally put the fear of God in people to stop them from going out to see it.
Referring to himself as Christ’s ambassador, Mr Grech claims that the play represents everything that is wrong and sinful in the world. He goes on to remind his audience that according to the Bible the homosexual act is sinful and should therefore not be represented in a play. In a very animated, hands-all-over the place-rocking-in-my-chair mode, he also ‘stands up’ for children who in his opinion are being ‘suppressati.’ At this point I had to stop the video and bang my head against a hard pointed doorknob just to check that I wasn’t dreaming this hilarity up.
Thing is this:
The guy looks like he’s so deep in the closet that his skeleton is getting terribly restless.
After having competed in the Bay Music Awards in 2007 as Jay Omaro, he then went on record saying that most music is satanic.
And for the cherry on the cake, he is an active member of the ‘River of Love’ group whose leader claims that homosexuality can be cured with prayer.
The result? To date more than 15,000 people have watched Grech’s video. This means that the same amount of people now know about the existence of the play – a number that would never have been reached with a meagre marketing budget.
Plus, within 24 hours of Grech’s video, a spoof video was conjured up giving the play even more free publicity and ticket sales.
Conclusion – had I been marketing this production, I would have gladly paid Grech to come up with something this good. I’m only angry I didn’t think of it myself, but well-done Mr. Grech. Well done.