Promotion Fail

You make it all the way through Friday the 13th and then this crap happens.

"Mailorama va distribuer des dizaines de milliers d'Euros en cash dans les rues de Paris," claims the Mailorama.fr website - at least for the moment. For the monolithically English speaking, that roughly translates to "Mailorama will distribute tens of thousands of euros in cash in the streets of Paris." Didn't work out that way.

Mailorama, an email marketing website in France, set out to promote their service by having a drive-by-giveaway, tossing envelopes of cash to people from a van as it passed the Eiffel Tower. However when an unexpectedly large crowd estimated at 5000 showed up, blocking traffic and causing safety concerns, police and  Mailorama agreed to call off the publicity stunt.

The disappointed crowd overturned a car. At least 10 people were arrested.

The Mailorama fiasco is right up there with other great promotional disasters. My favorites are the (real) Disco Demolition night and the (fake) WKRP Thanksgiving Giveaway.

Disco Demolition night took place in Chicago in 1979. Disco music, the signature music of the 70's, had divided the nation into those who could do The Hustle and those who couldn't. A growing rejection of what had become the Disco norm was spawning the New Wave and Punk movements, and in Chicago a disc jockey expressed his disdain for Disco by destroying Disco records by any means possible. His claim to fame came when he was scheduled to blow up boxes of LPs between games of a Chicago White Sox double-header.

The White Sox were owned by Bill Veeck, a shameless promoter who had once sent midget Eddie Gaedel up to bat in a major league baseball game. For him the Disco Demolition night was a no-brainer.

The demolition took place, but then, as with the Mailorama crowd, the scene turned ugly with hundreds of people coming onto the field and starting a bonfire in center field. The second game of the double header was cancelled (the White Sox ultimately forfeited the game - the last time an American League game was forfeited).

Still, IMHO, the best promotion failure was from the fictional WKRP radio station from the TV series of the same name. If you know the story it needs no explanation, and if you haven't, well, I won't spoil it for you, just watch the clip (sorry, can't find an embeddable version).

Sources:
CBS News
Mailorama

Doggie Treat

A man in Joliet, Illinois claims he is using the marijuana in his back yard to teach his dog how to sniff out drugs.

Police were called to the man's residence by an anonymous tipster. A woman living at house the let them into the back yard where they discovered three marijuana plants - two living, one dead - behind a shed. After confirming that the plants were in fact cannabis, they called the woman's husband on his cell phone.

The husband explained to the police that he had a "controlled substance license," and that he was only using the plants to train his dog to sniff out drugs.

When contacted by the Herald News on Sunday, the man said he could not discuss the matter involving the police until he learned more about the situation.


"I can't answer anything right now, the man said. "I don't know what's going on."

The dog, meanwhile, was found in the cellar next to an empty bag of dog food repeatedly yelling "Free Bird!"

Sources:
All Voices
The Herald News
NBC Chicago

Jailed for Yawning

Clifton Williams can now yawn and stretch in freedom once again. Williams, 33, was jailed last month by Judge Daniel Rozak for contempt of court. For yawning.

Williams (pictured), was released after serving 21 days of a potential six month sentence.

Said the judge, "I just first of all want to make it clear: You were never in custody for yawning, you never were. It was a sound ... that was offensive to the court."

Said Williams father, Clifton Williams Sr.,"I've heard of people getting less time and they're dealing drugs or shot somebody."

Methinks Mr. Williams Sr. may have a point.