Whether they worked in the company's favor or not, these advertising techniques were nothing short of crazy. Here are, what we believe, the 10 most outrageous advertising strategies.
1. Flash Mobs
The first flash mob happened in 2003. T-Mobile featured flash mobs in their commercials in 2009. They were a big hit. One was voted TV Commercial of the Year and is the most watched flash mob video ever.
2. Skinvertising (Human Billboards)
In the early 2000's, it became popular to tatto advertisements on your body for some quick cash. Perhaps the most famous instance was with boxer Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins for an online casino named Golden Palace. He started with temporary tattoos and moved up to Henna tattos because they last longer. He was paid approximately $100,000.
3. Bathroom Advertising
We have all seen posters in the stall of a bathroom. Some companies take it to a whole other level. Could you imagine going to wash your hands at the sink and seeing a necklace made as part of the mirror? You can stand in just the right spot to see how the necklace would look on you. They did exactly that in Brazil. View more clever bathroom ads here.
4. Breaking World Records
HubSpot is a perfect example for this. In August of 2011, they broke the world record for largest webinar. With 10,899 attendees, the webinar spoke of social media marketing data. Attempting to break a world record gives a company a lot of publicity. It makes people want to be a part of history.
5. Pulling Off a Prank
One of the most popular pranks in history was that of Taco Bell purchasing the Liberty Bell. It was an April Fool's joke. The said it was in attempt to reduce the country's debt and they renamed it the Taco Liberty Bell. It gained a lot of negative publicity before it was declared a hoax at noon. The campaign cost $300,000 and generated $25 million in free publicity.
6. Purchasing Something Crazy
In 2004, GoldenPalace.com purchased a 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich half with a burnt image of the Virgin Mary on it for $28,000 on eBay. There was one bite taken out of the sandwich. After the purchase, the company held a World Grilled Cheese Eating Championship.
7. Wardrobe Malfunctions
Perhaps the most well-known instance of this is the 2004 Super Bowl Half-Time show with Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. Justin ripped away part of Janet's bustier, revealing more than supposedly intended. CBS was not fined. There have been plenty of similar instances with celebrities since.
8. Giving Expensive Gifts
"You get a car! You get a car! Everybody gets a car!" In 2010, Oprah decided to give everyone in her studio audience a big surprise - the keys to their very own, brand new, 2012 Volkswagon Beetle!
9. Paying a Celebrity to NOT Wear Your Clothing
In 2011, Abercrombie offered to pay Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino a significant amount to stop wearing their clothing line. Their reasoning was due to the series being "contrary to the aspirational nature of the brand." They felt that him wearing their clothing could cause significant damage to their brand. The approach is so ridiculous, it gave them a large amount of publicity.
10. Throwing an Expensive Car out of an Airplane
"Let's Do This." That's the name of a campaign by Chevy in which they tossed a 2012 Sonic out of an airplane. The car landed in a desert in Arizona. Their goal with the campaign was to appeal to a younger audience. As imagined, Chevy gained an impressive amount of publicity from this stunt.
What's the craziest publicity stunt you've encountered?
Next step: Get help with creating inbound marketing campaigns.