HVY MTL



Last Updated: 12/16/2008

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Gender: Male
Status: Single
Age: 37
Sign: Cancer

City: GREENVILLE
State: South Carolina
Country: US
Signup Date: 5/22/2005

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Thursday, August 07, 2008 

Marketing is a Tough Job
Current mood:  catalyzed
Category: News and Politics

It's tough selling stuff.  A marketer is expected to come up with a fresh message, get it out on a budget, and get people to buy what the client is selling.  Some days, just when you think you've got it - an effectve new message that makes people think positively about the product - some cannibalistic mad Canuckistani comes and throws a wrench in the works.

"Greyhound scraps ads after Canada bus beheading"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080806/ap_on_re_ca/canada_bus_beheading

"Greyhound has scrapped an ad campaign that extolled the relaxing upside of bus travel after one of its passengers was accused of beheading and cannibalizing another traveler.

The ad's tag line was "There's a reason you've never heard of 'bus rage.'""

Until...

"Thirty-seven passengers were aboard the Greyhound from Edmonton, Alberta, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, as it traveled at night along a desolate stretch of the TransCanada Highway about 12 miles from Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Witnesses said Li attacked McLean unprovoked, stabbing him dozens of times.

As horrified passengers fled the bus, Li severed McLean's head, displaying it to some of the passengers outside the bus, witnesses said.

A police officer at the scene reported seeing the attacker hacking off pieces of the victim's body and eating them, according to a police report."

So much for the ad campaign!

..
"Wambaugh said the ads only appeared in Canada and that some in Ontario and western Canada have already been removed. About 20,000 inserts of the Greyhound ads were scheduled to be put into an Alberta Summer Games handbook but they stopped the presses."

I want one!  That'd be quite a collectible.

[p.s. - The Cialdini book mentioned below really is good reading, recommended for anyone who ever buys or sells or gets manipulated or in any way deals with another human being]

Currently reading:
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials)
By Robert B. Cialdini
Release date: 2006-12-26

2:56 PM
3 Comments
 

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Hilary

 

I can just hear the "D'OH!!" of the advertising team...
But seriously, wtf, with the beheading, hacking, and flesh eating??

Posted by Hilary on Thursday, August 07, 2008 - 8:46 AM
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HVY MTL

 

"Forget about it, Jake. This is Canadatown."

Posted by HVY MTL on Thursday, August 07, 2008 - 9:23 AM
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Cynthia

 

thought Canada was a serene and peace promoting place..you know where all the drafters ran off to avoid war...

Posted by Cynthia on Thursday, August 07, 2008 - 10:11 AM
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