Sniff, Sniff. I Smell Press.

Anyone else out there think this is a faux story with the sole intention of getting press and getting mentioned on blogs like this?  (note – you have to register to read the article)

It smells funny to me.

If it is real, I guess the funny smell is just the lawyer for the plaintiff.

If it isn’t real, the Bald and the Blue have done it again.

Remember, these are the boys that held a funeral for the 80s. 

These are also the ear-less wonders who put out a velvet rope and stantions and stood guard at a door that looked like it could lead to the hottest club in town . . . but actually went to nowhere.

Brilliant.  Why?  Because each "stunt" (I hate that word) was so in the style of the show, that they didn’t seem like stunts. 

Having Maria from The Sound of Music stand guard at a fake nightclub in Soho wouldn’t make sense.  Asking the cast of August: Osage County to hold a funeral for the 80s?   Stunty McStunterson.

But having the Altar Boyz challenge the Backstreet Boys to a boy band battle and then sending them a rubber chicken when they don’t show up?  Or having a promotion where virgins got in free to the first performance of a show about virginity?  I took classes at the Blue School of Press (when you graduate, you get a mention on Extra).

My favorite press event of all time isn’t even mine.  The producers of Matt and Ben started a rumor that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were suing them.  They got two major press hits:  first when the story broke and then, when it was debunked.  But they didn’t stop.  They posted "documents" and "voice mails" on their website that backed up their story.  Yes!  The event and show fit together – like a B-rate star and the revival of Chicago.

When you look at creative ways to get press for your shows (and you should) look at the show you’re promoting first.  Don’t just come up with the kookiest idea known to man.  Come up with an idea that makes so much sense for your show, it would be kooky NOT to do it. 

That’s the difference between a stunt and an event.

(The Backstreet Boys never responded, by the way.  And then Kevin Richardson left the group and did Chicago.  Coincidence?)

If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!

•