In today’s Introduction to Public Relations class, we watched a classic episode of the classic 1970s TV show “WKRP in Cincinnati” :: “Turkeys Away.” Though I paid to download the episode from iTunes, I just discovered it’s also available for free through Hulu.
In this episode, which was based on a botched promotion from a radio station in Atlanta, live turkeys dropped from a helicopter. Chaos ensues.
What can we learn about how NOT to do a promotion from Mr. Carlson’s fiasco? I’ll get the list started:
- Communicate with your entire team before launching a promotional campaign (or a turkey).
- Do your research! It’s best to learn ahead of time that turkeys don’t fly.
- Get permission before doing a stunt.
- Know what is considered news in your local market. Giving away turkeys for Thanskgiving wasn’t news. (But watching live turkeys plummet from a helicopter probably would be news.)
- Brainstorm for what could possibly go wrong before you proceed with a promotion.
What would you add to this list?
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very very good
very good thank you
[...] Comment! I left a comment on Barbara Nixon’s post about the clip from ”WKRP in Cincinnati” on April 30, 3009. The link that will take you to my comment is: http://publicrelationsmatters.com/2009/04/29/all-i-ever-needed-to-know-about-promotions-i-learned-fr... [...]
I found the video clip to be very amusing. I had not previously heard of the show however when I asked my parents if they had ever watched it they both said yes and were surprised that I knew what WKRP was. We talked and laughed about the turkey episode.
Getting to the point, I agree with all of the steps that you listed in your post. I think it is really important to be prepared and make sure you consider everything before taking such a risk of launching turkeys out of a helicopter. I learned from this episode that it is really important to work as a team in public relations.
[...] After watching the show we discussed what we learned about how not to do a promotion. This list is also available on Barbara Nixon’s blog: [...]
[...] I commented on Barbara Nixon’s [...]
I had never heard of the show before- it was so funny! But from a PR perspective, a disaster! It really goes to show how important PR is to a company, but good PR that is. The promotional plan should have been researched and well thought out… or maybe hired a professional! Poor guy!
[...] http://epond6.wordpress.com/2009/04/09/what-will-kids-come-up-with-next/#comment-16 2. http://publicrelationsmatters.com/2009/04/29/all-i-ever-needed-to-know-about-promotions-i-learned-fr... 3. http://lineolesen1.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/woops-obama-s/#comment-6 4. [...]
It’s always important to look at a promo campaign from ALL angles before thinking about putting it into action!