Posts Tagged ‘stunt’

Great coverage, fatal PR? The Algae-Fueled Hypemobile Rolls On

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Tricked out Hypemobile

Tricked out Hypemobile

Posted by Tom Gable

Gable PR works with several renewable energy clients, participate in clean tech and other organizations and our teams are always watching for good news on advances in technology that can help wean our world from its addiction to foreign oil.

Last week, our news trackers picked up the announcement of what appeared to be a great concept – a cross-country tour to promote the use of algae as a source for fuel to power automobiles. This could create what some PR professionals refer to as “rolling thunder,” where you launch something and watch the results roll across the country making big noise at every stop, with awareness and reputation building accordingly.

Unfortunately, this particular trip may be producing an ill-wind along the way (some cynics might use more descriptive and colorful terms). To start you on the journey, here are the first two paragraphs of the news release announcing the tour from the Sapphire Energy Web site:

“Veggie Van Organization and the FUEL Movie to Unveil the Algaeus”

Los Angeles, CA (August 27, 2009) – Green Fuel is real fuel as the Algaeus, the world’s first plug-in hybrid vehicle to cross the country on fuel containing a blend of algae-based renewable gasoline, hits the road to celebrate the launch of the award-winning film FUEL. Sponsored by the Veggie Van Organization, the eco-aggressive, 10-day cross country tour features a caravan of high technology ‘green’ vehicles, led by the groundbreaking Algaeus, which is fueled by Sapphire Energy. The tour kicks off on September 8 in San Francisco and culminates in New York City on September 18 to celebrate the nationwide premiere of FUEL, the movie that inspires green energy solutions such as those demonstrated on the tour.

Sundance Film Festival Winning Director of “FUEL” and Founder/Co-Director of Veggie Van Organization, Josh Tickell, says of the big news, “What better way to show that the energy solutions we have been waiting for are here than driving the world’s first algae fuel powered, 150 mile per gallon, plug-in-electric hybrid vehicle across America to celebrate the opening of a movie about a new green economy.”

What better way, indeed, until one starts probing into the facts of the case and the details of the car, a converted plug-in Prius; the deal is 95 percent hype and 5 percent reality.

The hype: using just 25 gallons of fuel to cross the country in the hybrid electric vehicle with just 5 percent of that algae-based fuel, or 1.25 gallons. The trek started with the unveiling of the car in San Francisco on September 8. For the 1.25 gallons, Tickell and his FUEL promotion team and Sapphire Energy achieved incredible media mileage, garnering attention from environmental bloggers, television and print media. Then, critical comments started popping up on multiple renewable energy Web sites and blogs. Here are a few highlights:

  • Well it’s not getting across the country by algae; it’s getting 5% of the way across the country by algae.
  • I suppose a publicity stunt is what is needed, but there are a lot of deceptive words in the press release…Because of the ethanol mandate, it could have more corn ethanol than algae fuel, yet it’s touted as being powered by algae…Why not call it the Cornius?
  • The car could probably succeed on 5 percent Mazola oil or recycled cooking oil from the McDonald’s deep fryers along the way. Does this really prove anything scientifically? It’s just a promotion from the Fuel movie and the media are going along for the ride.
  • So, a plug in hybrid, that utilizes a 5% algae gasoline mix will go coast-to-coast on only 25 gallons of fuel! So, what that means is that this vehicle and this publicity stunt, will be running mostly off of plug in power and good old fashioned gasoline. What that means kids, is that, the primary fuel being used for this little escapade is gasoline! 23.75 gallons of it, to be exact. The secondary fuel will be coal! Coal fired power plants will generate electricity which this vehicle will steal from hotels across the nation.
  • 0.5 gallons of algae fuel per tankful. At that rate, you could put that much water and an emulsifier in the tank and claim that the car runs on water!
  • The economy comes from the fact that it is a P-HEV, not from the fact it runs on algae ethanol…The overwhelming majority of the energy for this trip comes from oil based gasoline and electricity from a high carbon grid. Still fuel efficient, no contest there, but (it is) no more efficient or exciting as any other P-HEV on the road, except for the paint job. GREENWASHING!!!
  • If they’re going to use just 5% algae in the fuel, fine — but then they shouldn’t claim that the car is “powered by green crude” and paint a big “powered by ALGAE” sign on the side.
  • We need real green tech, not phony marketing ploys. This stunt could do more to discredit green technology than promote it. Some people will look at this, find out the truth, and conclude that biofuels are a hoax. Sad, because biofuels are actually a good idea that just hasn’t quite arrived yet.
  • I like the comment about substituting the algae fuel for the same amount of water and you call the car the Aqua-us!
  • How stupid do these PR brats think the public is? This…is all about drumming money out of gullible investors along the way, not about saving energy or the planet.
  • Seems to me that the Josh Tickell polluting the green movement are the reason that any viable “green fuel solution” is still well beyond the horizon…It would be real interesting to hear T. Boone Pickens’ take on this cross-country charade.

For further details, check the sponsoring Veggie Van organization Web site, which almost looks like a put-on. Its mission is “to facilitate the transition from fossil fuel use toward a new green economy by educating people about sustainable energy and providing them with appropriate pathways for integrating sustainable energy into homes, schools, communities, cities, states and ultimately nations.” The main vehicle for doing this (other than the colorful and media-friendly vehicles in its fleet) will be “to create a green curriculum that is nationally accredited for K-12 and to make available, free of charge, a 35 minute educational version of ‘FUEL’ to every school in the United States.”

The bottom line: generating more promotion for the movie and not much action in supporting the somewhat fuzzy mission statement. It will be interesting to see how the media react when the Hypemobile arrives in New York City on Sept. 18 for the theatrical launch and press event.

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Posted in Authentic PR, Client Service Results, Clutter Busting, Hypemeister Honor Roll, Social Media | 3 Comments »

Got ROI? Or how much for 5,000 bags of dead bugs?

Monday, June 29th, 2009

sadgrashopperjurvetsonPosted by Erin Koch

A few weeks ago, we received an unusual package here at Gable PR World Headquarters: a sealed plastic package filled with chocolate covered grasshoppers. Of the many things we receive in the mail and via delivery each week, this really jumped out. The payoff?

This past week, The Wall Street Journal venture capital blog explained the (highly successful) stunt: a company called GotVMail was rebranding itself as Grasshopper Inc., and trying to reach entrepreneurs (many of whom were recently out of work) with their call-forwarding and phone answering services. The packaging that came along with the chocolate covered locusts included a link to a Web site and a video on YouTube.

But here’s what really made our antennae stand on end: as reported by the WSJ blog, the cost of the bags of bugs (mailed to 5,000 influencers) was $67,353! The return on the investment: 150,000 views of the video, nearly 1,000,000 people reached via Twitter, and even requests to show the video at conferences. More importantly, the phones and in-boxes at Grasshopper Inc. are buzzing (or humming as the case may be).

This is an excellent example of the exponential power of a creative idea, leveraged with good PR (Gable PR had fun in leveraging ideas for two very different clients — Proflowers and Digital Microwave; consumer or B2B, creativity works). $67,000 spent on advertising would have amounted to little more than a shrug. Yet the same amount invested in a creative PR idea yielded fantastic results and media and blog coverage that spread across the land … like a plague of locusts.

Photo by Jurvetson

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Paying for Intern Positions; Poor PR Practices

Monday, May 18th, 2009

Huffington Post Auctions Away Internship Position for More than $13,000

Posted by Krista Rogers

Despite the common phrase that is often said to justify a blunder, all press is NOT good press. In an obvious effort to grab attention, The Huffington Post decided to hold an auction on charitybuzz.com for a two to three month internship in NYC or D.C. Requirements include the applicant be at least 18 years old and have some serious extra dough to spend.

Now while the second caveat is not clearly stated in the auction regulations, the current bid for the short term internship is $13,000 with a minimum next bid of $15,500. And you thought your unpaid internship set you back!

Initially, it doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. Since the money raised will be donated to The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights charity, paying for a job almost seems justified. However, the HuffPost has had celebrity contributors including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Norman Mailer and John Cusack. They also reportedly raised over $25 million in seed money so it is hard to swallow the idea that a mere $13,000 written from a student’s trust fund is going to make a significant impact.

The issue of an aspiring journalist who wants to work for an American liberal news website and has the money to “jumpstart their career in the blogosphere,” is not what we are here to discuss. That is already generating enough negative feedback among critical bloggers and journalists. The question we want to answer is “what to do with PR backlash and how to prevent it?”

PR backlash results from poor research and poor planning. Why did The Huffington Post choose to go down the auction avenue as an effort to drive readers to their site? A lot of the negative feedback they have received questions the logic of the auction. The plan is flawed to the core because the obvious winner and future intern for the HuffPo is not going to be the most driven, qualified or intelligent journalist but instead the person with the biggest checkbook balance.

While I condone inventiveness and the ability to take the road less traveled, it is more important to consider motivation and target audience before executing a plan for media attention. So no, not all press is good press. Ironically, the Huffington Post Seems to Agree.

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Obama Staffer Resigns Over Air Force One NYC Fly-Over Blunder

Friday, May 8th, 2009

Posted by Tom Gable

The New York Times today reported the resignation of Louis Caldera, the point person on the incident where Air Force One flow low over the New York City to create a photo opportunity and scared millions. President Obama called for a review of the incident. Today, the White issued a seven-page review along with the photograph. The memorandum from deputy chief of staff, Jim Messina, said that “structural and organizational ambiguities” in the White House Military Office led to a series of miscommunications and a lack of public notification.

“If he (Louis Caldera) had been aware that the flight would cause so much trouble or any embarrassment to the president or to the White House,” the report said, “he never would have allowed it to go forward.”

No kidding! In putting this idea together, Caldera and his colleagues must have been living in White House LaLaLand, where one can do no wrong in the most powerful office on earth. I doubt the White House press staff was involved. If they had been, a routine pre-event analysis would have made the risks abundantly clear and Caldera would have never authorized the flight. For details and ideas on creating your own pre-flight check list on special events, see the earlier post on April 30.

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Air Force One and NYC – Risk Analysis Up Front Can Prevent PR Gaffes and Blunders

Thursday, April 30th, 2009
Air Force One Photo Opp Goes Awry

Photo Opp Goes Awry

Posted by Tom Gable

The Wall Street Journal reported that The White House canceled a planned second photo shoot of a jumbo jet used as Air Force One in Washington, D.C. next month with the nation’s capital as a backdrop after negative public reaction to Monday’s flight in New York with the Statue of Liberty as the icon, which made headlines in the WSJ, The New York Times and other media. The scramble by White House officials to retrace the steps that led to the gaffe generated other stories and blog coverage.

With foresight and basic risk analysis, the first flight might not have happened, saving the White House the need to jump into the post-event crisis PR and apology mode.

PR firms and internal staffs typically go through a somewhat simple but strategic process of analysis to determine the value and benefit of any special event, promotion, photo opportunity, stunt or other activity.

Here is the Gable PR check list, to which many other ideas could be added:

• Useful purpose of the proposed activity (write a vision statement or project goal)
• Logistics, staging (feasibility, issues, costs, timing, etc.)
• Participants
• Context (where does it fit in society, the public, mores)
• Desired outcome
• Cost/benefit
• The flip side – risk analysis

The risk analysis portion is most critical. What could go wrong? Is the proposed activity moral, ethical, sensitive to all outside interests and publics, drain on resources, a public safety issue or fraught with even the tiniest hint of potential disruption of the daily lives of those who would be involved, either directly or indirectly? Risk analysis can lead to a quick decision on go, no go, or modify.

When things go wrong, management needs to determine the cause. Was it an issue with authority, responsibility, controls, processes or even culture? Common sense also plays a huge role. If this incident were taken apart by Saturday Night Live on Weekend Update the bit might be: “What were they thinking?” And Seth Myers would say: “Let’s spend $300,000 of taxpayers’ money to fly a 747 and fighter jet at low level over Manhattan and scare the hell out of several million people so we can have a neat photo for our Web site.”

Photo by Jim Brown

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