Publicity stunt

JP Morgan and Ringling Brothers In 1933, J.P. Morgan Jr. was summoned to appear before Senate Banking and Currency Committee due to their suspicions of his previous banking activity throughout the financial crash. During the congressional hearings, U.S. Senator Carter Glass remarked that the proceedings had turned into a circus as things had begun to appear out of hand. The Ringling Brothers as well as Barnum & Bailey Circus were both in Washington D.C. at the time of the hearing. Thus, they interpreted Senator Glass' remarks as an invitation and asked their press agent to place a female circus dwarf named Lya Graf on Morgan Jr.'s lap during one of the hearings. While the addition of the small lady surprised Morgan and infuriated Glass, it generated significant publicity for the Ringling Brothers Circus. Calendar Girls In 1999, a group of 11 women from the Women's Institute (in Yorkshire, UK) stripped for a calendar to raise money for the Leukaemia Research Fund. Setting a goal of $5,000, the group of Women's Institute women feared that they would struggle to sell even a 1,000 copies. The calendar was eventually released on April 12, 1999, and featured all 11 women posing nude – obscured by baked goods, flower arrangements, sewing adornments, teapots, song sheets, and even a grand piano. Despite leaving people stunned at the time, over 800,000 copies of the calendar were sold worldwide. After its initial release in 1999, the calendar raised over 5 million euros or over 4.8 million U.S dollars. This publicity stunt eventually went on to inspire a multitude of media productions including a British comedy film, titled Calendar Girls in 2003, a West End show in 2009, and a musical production in 2012, titled The Girls. The stunt aimed to promote the restaurant's new burger menu. A spokeswoman for the company told The Washington Post that the stunt was intended to "get people talking about, and thinking differently about, IHOP", which was primarily known as a pancake house that served only breakfast. The company changed their name back to IHOP that same month. == Positive and Negative Effects ==

Publicity stunts serve as a divisive tool in marketing that has the ability to generate positive attention, or bring considerable risk that can lead to long-term reputational damage. Positive Effects Stunts are efficient at capturing immediate public attention, bypassing traditional advertising bombardment and immediately differentiating the company, cause, or event. Stunts also have a high likelihood of providing a return-on-investment since they generate revenue from unpaid advertisements as news outlets report on the event. Bold stunts can frame a brand as innovative and confident, standing out amongst the crowded market. Actors Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Patricia Arquette, Tramell Tillman, and Zach Cherry attended the display in-character while Severance's director and executive producer Ben Stiller appeared alongside them to capture footage of the stunt. The short pop-up gained traction on social media with favorable responses, sparking excitement for season two of the hit show. Season two of Severance premiered on January 17, 2025, garnering 589 million minutes viewed in the US over all its existing episodes on Nielsen, with 28% contributing to the season 2 opening in its premiere week. Negative Effects Studies on provocative publicity stunts have shown that they primarily elicit negative emotions, leading to a negative association with the subject of the stunt. Stunts that touch on sensitive social issues including race and culture can lead to extensive consumer boycotts and dissatisfaction as shown by Balenciaga's controversial teddy bear advert. While journalists hold publicity stunts and stories created by public relations (PR) specialists in disdain, journalists have also been historically reliant on PR material to generate news. ==See also==