A Strange Billboard...
 

...hmmm, Jim Jones I think he was.

http://www.wsbt.com/news/wsbt-hacien...,6380033.story

Anyway, they are taking it down ASAP. Opps!

Yeah, that's pretty tasteless. It makes you wonder what some of these ad companies are thinking.

I think it's hilarious, and don't think it went too far. Yeah it's pushing the line, but it's not too bad. It's not like Waffle House put up a billboard saying "You're not going to find better scrambled eggs unless you push your wife down some stairs!" That would be just crude. People over react to the smallest things, like that cartoon network stunt in Boston few years ago. Terrorist attack by lite-bright boxes? Cmon.

I'd go drink these guys' kool-aid. Of course, they may have run into copyright issues that forced them to pull it. But they don't care, there is no such thing as bad press in this case.

I noticed in the article they only quoted one consumer who was actually offended, and a couple industry type people who agree.

Maybe i'm just young enough to not remember this when it happened, but when it is ok to advertise based on historical events? Could Lipton do something like "Good enough to keep on the boat?", or a steel company do something with the WTC?

I think the audience they are targeting here is not the one that will get offended by this.

Jim Jones,first-class psycho :down: :nope:

I am old enough to remember the event. I was 6 when I saw the photo of the dead bodies in the jungle on a German news magazine cover, was quite shocked, especially seeing kids in my age lying around there. I didn't really understand why they did this, but it was a good warning about religious nuts!

However I like this ad, this fits my twisted humour. :up:

And the advertisement reached its goal: wheather you like the ad or not, it is discussed in the public - just like those Benetton ads in the 80s/90s.

Wow...talk about poor taste. :down: I'm with Tak, just WTH were they thinking with this sign. It would seem the more PC we get the less we get.

tasteless? i suppose. i also think it depends upon how close you are to the tragedy that started it all.

im willing to bet that this exact billboard in another part of the country wouldn't have drawn much - if any - negative attention.

personally, i think its kind of funny... but i could see how another person, especially one who lived in the same town or state as the tragedy wouldn't be so inclined as to see the humor.

Putting humour aside as it is very subjective, strictly from a marketing viewpoint, I don't see this as an effective advertisement schema.

I think the boys from Madison Avenue would call this a "miss".

Errr.... Didn't the tragedy happen somewhere in South America?

Can you explain why you think so?

I would only call it a failure if the ad repelled more existing customers than Hacienda gains from people who became curious through the ad, find it funny or hear its name for the first time and thus want to pay these restaurants a visit. Establishing a brand name is also a target of advertising, but I don't know how well-known they were before.

The only not so smart thing, I would say is that these chains usually have families as a target audience and they might be more likely to complain about this than dark-humoured guys with no kids like me...

In Guyana, but Jones got most of his followers from the churches he opened here in the States - first in the Midwest and then in California - and they "mass migrated" to Guyana after he arranged to establish Jonestown.

The mass suicide was precipitated by a visit from US Congressman Leo Ryan and other interested parties, who visited Jonestown in large part due to the concerns expressed by the families of some of the people who had moved there.

:haha:

"Lipton Teas... too good to toss in the harbour."

Brilliant!! :yeah:


I guess that would be better than an Airline doing it...

Yeah... I think their new "tower avoidance" systems probably wouldn't make for good PR.