| Worst Advertising/PR Moves of 2004 |
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By Apryl Duncan
Eminem sued Apple over the use of his song's lyrics in a commercial. A family-friendly program group pulled its ad dollars when the animated "Father of the Pride" show turned out not to be so family-friendly after all. Christina Aguilera's ad for Virgin Mobile never made it to U.S. airwaves because of its controversial content. They're certainly not the Best Advertising/PR Moves of 2004 but they're not the Worst Advertising/PR Moves of 2004 either. Start the countdown of the Worst Advertising/PR Moves of 2004 with number 5:5. Clairol's Customers Threaten a Boycott if "The Apprentice" Contestant is Hired for Commercials Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth made a name for herself on Donald Trump's "The Apprentice." Viewers have described her as deceitful, manipulative and other words that just shouldn't appear in print. When word got out that Clairol was considering Omarosa to star in Herbal Essence commercials, consumers threatened a boycott. Various message boards were flooded with posts urging consumers to write Clairol and a spokeswoman for the company said early on that they were concerned about the boycott.In the end, Clairol decided not to use Omarosa to front its products. Omarosa says she couldn't get her "moan right." Clairol says Omarosa had been filmed in a five-second ending for its Streaking Party commercial but the company had decided against using the take. 4. Low Carb Soda Frenzy Fizzles Pop quiz: Have you had a C2 or Pepsi Edge today? In the past week? Month?When was the last time you even saw a C2 or Pepsi Edge commercial? Coca-Cola and PepsiCo rushed to get their low carb sodas on the market. Coca-Cola's C2 beat Pepsi Edge to store shelves by a month, but PepsiCo moved its release date up a month just to come that close.C2 hit the market at the end of May with Pepsi Edge following in July. By August, the low carb soda craze had fizzled and sales for low carb products had declined. 3. Slim-Fast Trims Whoopi's Endorsement Deal Who knew endorsing weight loss products could be so controversial? Not since Monica Lewinsky touted Jenny Craig has the weight loss world been thrust into the spotlight as it was when Whoopi Goldberg signed on for Slim-Fast. The weight loss company has never had a more notable face promoting its products.But when Whoopi made anti-Bush comments at a John Kerry fundraiser, Slim-Fast acted quickly to remove her as spokeswoman as threats of a boycott surfaced. Slim-Fast's firing of Whoopi then sparked First Amendment violation protests from consumers who weren't offended by the remarks and even more threats of a boycott for removing her. The Kerry campaign said the comments "crossed the line" and Slim-Fast apologized to consumers who were offended by the remarks. 2. Unauthorized M. Night Shyamalan Documentary is Actually a Publicity Stunt Number two on this year's list could actually double and make its way on the Best Advertising/PR Moves of 2004 list. A three hour program promoted as an unauthorized documentary of M. Night Shyamalan captivated viewers with its promises of a "disturbing expose" that had Shyamalan ready to shut down production on the documentary when producers got too close to secrets of his personal life.The documentary turned out to be a complete production Shyamalan was in on to help promote the movie release of "The Village." The Sci Fi Channel and NBC Universal admitted the program was just a publicity stunt but before the stunt was revealed, news organizations around the world released articles about the controversial documentary that Shyamalan had walked out of in the middle of production. NBC, which recently took over the Sci Fi Channel, said, "We would never intend to offend the public or the press and value our relationship with both." NBC and the Sci Fi channel bore the brunt of the publicity stunt. The debacle worked for Shyamalan, though, whose movie went on to gross more than $100 million to date.1. Janet Jackson's "Wardrobe Malfunction" The wardrobe malfunction seen around the world earns the top spot on the Worst Advertising/PR Moves of 2004 list. Fines, complaints, apologies, stricter rules, boycotts. You name it. The "accidental" peep show caused it. Within minutes of Janet Jackson's breast being exposed on live TV, The NFL, CBS and MTV all went into damage control mode, issuing press releases saying the incident was unintentional. The FCC received a record 500,000+ complaints.The damage was done and 2004 became the year of the indecent programming claims. The FCC fined each of the 20 CBS-owned TV stations $27,500, the maximum indecency penalty. CBS is still fighting the $550,000 grand total, which is also the largest fine a television broadcaster has ever faced. Jackson's exposure has been referred to all year with new indecency program charges being filed with the FCC for a variety of alleged incidents. The most recent indecency claim comes from Nicollette Sheridan's towel-dropping on Monday Night Football. Networks airing live shows have instituted enhanced tape delays to prevent offensive words or actions from hitting the airwaves. FCC investigations continue to find violations, with Viacom recently being fined $3.5 million for shows like CSI, Big Brother and the 2002 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.Have a great year and may you make the Best Advertising/PR Moves of 2005 list! Need help implementing a new sales or marketing program? We've got two suggestions:
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