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Prankvertising: Fun Taken Too Far?

10/3/2015

15 Comments

 
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by Keith Quesenberry, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Messiah College
Imagine you’re at a job interview, a stressful situation in of itself, when you see something startling in the window behind the interviewer. Falling out of the sky is a giant object covered in smoke and fire. To your dismay, it looks like a huge meteor has hit the ground.  

There’s a giant explosion and debris starts raining down.  You scream and immediately seek cover, cowering on the floor. While crawling towards the door, people rush in with cameras and say, “surprise,” it was just a joke.  The window was really a TV screen and your reaction has just been filmed for an LG ad.

This “so real it’s scary” LG Electronics' video prank has racked up nearly 20 million YouTube views, on top of the nearly 24 million views from a similar video the consumer products producer created the year before. For that prank unsuspecting elevator riders were shocked when the elevator stopped suddenly and the floor, cleverly constructed of LG TVs, made it look like the bottom fell out, leaving a terrifying drop down the elevator shaft.

Pranks that get such genuine, emotionally-charged reactions can make for some very funny videos and draw a great deal of attention, but are they right?  As more and more brands use this technique it’s gained its own name: “Prankvertising.”  Dwayne W. Waite Jr. of the advertising creative recruiter Talent Zoo defines Prankvertising, as advertising that singles out or takes advantage of certain audiences for the sake of advertising its good or service.  In a blog post on the subject he questions whether this type of advertising is creative or exploitive? 

USA Today describes this new form of advertising as a technique for attracting Millennials with an “outrageous form of digital Candid Camera-on-steroids pranks,” the aim of which is “to catch and film folks in the most embarrassing, degrading or — in this case — scary-as-hell situations.” Is Prankvertising “reality TV gone nasty,” or is it a new way to advertise effectively?


In an Adweek article many advertisers say it’s hard to draw direct links between stunts and sales. Most marketers seem to be happy with generating high levels of sharing and online views while saving money over paid media. “From our perspective ... it will more than pay for itself in earned media and ‘share of conversation.’ That, in turn, translates into brand worth, which in turn drives sales,” says Thomas Moradpour, VP, Global Marketing at Carlsberg. 

Carlsberg created a prank where someone calls a friend at 3 a.m., telling them he’s lost $400 in a back-room poker game and needs the money now or he can’t leave. Arriving in a sketchy neighborhood the friend has to get past bouncers to drop off the money. Then the promotion for Carlsberg is revealed as everyone raises a glass to true friendship. The video drew a frightful reaction from unknowing participants, but also 1 million views in its first four days online.

Are these pranks what’s needed to get views these days?  Perhaps Prankvertising is what marketers and their advertising agencies must do to grab attention in an ultra-competitive, extremely cluttered environment.  What if the participants sign a release and say they are fine with the joke?  Does that make it right?  Do the ends justify the means? 

AIDA, a model that suggests how advertising and selling work, proposes that consumers pass through five distinct stages:  Attention must first be captured, followed by Interest, Desire, and finally Action.  The shock of Prankvertising may get views (i.e., attention and interest), but that doesn’t mean it’s generating interest and desire for the product, particularly the final act of purchase. 


Similarly, a study published by the American Psychological Association found that violent and sexual media content may impair advertising’s effectiveness and ultimately deter purchasing.  Ads with violent or sexual content (shock) decreased advertising effectiveness measured by brand memory, brand attitudes, and buying intentions.

In the end these viral videos may garner views, but what's the cost to marketers who are not actually increasing stakeholder value?  Likewise, what's the impact on societal values and the people who are the brunt of the jokes?  If this "Mindless Marketing" continues, to what extremes will promotional pranks eventually go?

 
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15 Comments
Jacob Reeves
10/21/2015 09:51:11 pm

I think that this type of advertising is thinking outside of the box. It may seem harmful maybe to the recipients of the prank, but it catches my attention and brings in a lot more attention than the product had before. Personally, I would not mind being the recipient of the prank,so I do not think that there is anything wrong with this type of advertising. In the broader scope of things though, I can see why it would be frowned upon by society.

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Michelle Sherrill
10/25/2015 03:26:23 pm

Although this type of advertising is thinking outside the box, I think it is unnecessary and completely useless. It does draw attention to your product, but not necessarily in the best way. Not to mention, you can be sued for causing extreme emotional trauma.

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Rachel Cordill
10/25/2015 06:53:23 pm

I think these advertising tactics are unique and creative and do a great job at proving the high level of quality of a company's product. However, depending on the prank and how embarrassing and/or devastating the prank is for the people it is used on, I think it could be considered corrupt or cruel. Marketers should think about where to draw the line on these kind of ads and come up with less damaging or brutal ways to use "prankvertising"

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Janell Goddard
10/26/2015 11:05:30 am

I would agree that this type of advertising is mindless. It is not profitable enough long-term to justify advertising in this way, and it heightens the sensationalism used by many marketers. This sensationalism makes it hard for more substantial values to take root, and the brand will only be effective as long as it can keep coming up with more and more shocking content.

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Daniel Rasmussen
10/26/2015 02:01:36 pm

I feel like this is a clever form of advertising that hasn't necessarily been tapped into before. At the same time, as the post states, consumer interest alone doesnt necessarily increase stakeholder value, so the question for me would be, is the risk of what could go wrong worth the possibility of not even increasing stakeholder value? Because it seems with these type of "prankster" scare tactics, that alot of things have the potential to go wrong legally. Companies should definitely consider the risks involved before they give prankvertising a try.

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Jordan Perkins
10/26/2015 02:02:29 pm

I agree that this mindless marketing is widely ineffective. While it may gain the attention of certain individuals, it does nothing to further a positive image of LG, in fact it degrades the image of the company in the eyes of the consumer in some ways as the consumer begins to see LG as deceptive and manipulative of their consumers.

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Paul Chung
10/26/2015 03:32:07 pm

I believe that this particular type of advertising is fun, amusing, and innovative, but I personally do not think that these ads would do very well when it comes to sell a product or providing a service. Like the article had said, I do think that these types of prank advertising will attract people to the videos and will get millions of views, but I do not think that it would attract possible consumers making them have the urge or desire to purchase their goods or service. I do believe that this type of advertising is new and innovative as well as outside the box, but I think it would only attract people looking for some amusement or comedy.

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Julie
10/26/2015 09:06:41 pm

I think that this form of advertising is a lawsuit waiting to happen. They are exploiting people's raw emotions and it is unethical marketing habits. If they really want to do this type of advertising they should just pay a good actor rather than truly frightening and tricking average people. They can be sued even if their prank doesn't "go wrong" simply for emotional damages. I personally would have been very angry to go to a fake job interview where I have been used for market a product without my prior permission. I could also see this advertising being taken way to far.

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Kevin
10/26/2015 10:22:25 pm

At least for me personally, ads like the LG ones make me not like the brand. I would hate to be in that situation and would not want to perpetuate further similar actions. It's only a matter of time before these pranks go too far, and at that point there will not be enough youtube views to restore brand image in the eye of the consumer. Sure attention and exposure build the brand, but reputation is what gives a brand life or death. The consumer, not the audience, is what determines a brand's fate.

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Zack Rood
10/27/2015 06:55:56 pm

I think that LG prankvertising does an excellent job of showing the quality of their products, because of their ability to demonstrate their picture quality for people mistaken what is happening on their tv screens as something that is happening right before their eyes. Where I think LG goes wrong in these ads is by going to far and depicting situations that were far to serious. However, I think that prankervising could be a viable way of marketing if not done is such a potentially harmful way.

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Adam Washington
10/28/2015 11:05:07 pm

I believe that there are other ways that LG could advertise their screens. Although they did garner millions of views in a short amount of time, the popularity of video was short lived after one sees it once or twice. They could use their quality LG screens to tell and capture a story that would be more memorable as well as less exploitative.

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Daniel Martinez
10/30/2015 02:24:47 am

Prankvertising in itself is not a bad thing. I believe some ads may take it too far but LG did not. The commercial they aired I believe is a rational prank. They didn't go too far with it. People are becoming too easily offended. Although this is not a mindful ad I would say it is simple minded.

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Sakura Tantzen
10/30/2015 08:18:17 pm

I agree this type of advertising is mindless. Much of it does not create stakeholder value because it does not actually describe the product, it is more for entertainment purposes. It also can seem cruel and distasteful to society if it is a very harsh and scary prank. I do think, however, that if the participants are alright with the prank in the end and thought it was somewhat humorous, there is nothing wrong with using it as part of an ad.

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Joseph Luigs
11/5/2015 02:39:07 am

It seems a bit extreme to classify this ad as mindless. I think it does bring attention to the brand, and more importantly, the ad makes the viewer question whether the TVs are capable of such realistic pictures. I want to see that TV in person to know if it would actually look that good. In terms of societal value, it has no glaring issue. Pranking is something that can be harmless and fun. The recipients of the prank may be startled for a moment, but there is no damage done. To say that people in the future may take pranks too far and receive negative repercussions for doing so, does not apply to this specific prank. This ad seems to be overall mindful to me.

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Sony a5100 black friday link
10/22/2019 01:41:41 am

When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thanks!

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