Well, it worked! We all noticed that Shark Week begins July 6! Very clever!
pjmiami
· 5 months ago
except for the fact that it starts in August!
Janet Hansen
· 5 months ago
Wow! This IS creepy. I do not agree that this is working in terms of PR. If I received that in the mail, I'd block every phone number, email, twitter, FB, outlet imaginable to not hear from these people.
It's pretty obvious those who've posted comments above me must be from the network or PR firm responsible. The message I would heed from them is DO NOT write about this stuff! Journalists and freelancers are overburdened with enough. This sort of negative attention grabbing is what gives journalism a bad rap in the mainstream. This proves it!
As a publicist, I'd be ashamed to have done something so vulgar. Janet Hansen Scout66.com
eric f.
· 5 months ago
Janet, how does that give journalism a bad rep? It's the journalist who received the package in the mail, not sent it.
And i'm not from the network or PR firm. I'm just another advertising / communications professional that will probably tune into Shark Week as a consumer.
This is good stuff. If for no other reason than I found it online and then subsequently posted about it on my own blog. The WOM is working, and i don't think anyone outside of particularly conservative and traditional PR professionals are offended by this. If every single one of those offended traditional PR professionals boycotted Shark Week and the Discovery Channel as a protest to this effort, Shark Week would most definitely still come out on top from all the interesting buzz that didn't bother all the other people that came in contact with it.
so bravo.
Andrea D.
· 5 months ago
It does have an effect. But is it the right one?
Andrew
· 5 months ago
its JAWESOME !!!
julie
· 5 months ago
Wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that promotion myself. It gets attention, but the wrong kind.
NetworkMarketingGuy
· 5 months ago
You just guaranteed that some network marketing guy is going to try to one up this stunt now that you gave it such publicity.
TehOtherShoe
· 5 months ago
So long as they're only sending it to reporters, I'm in
(we all know reporters don't need food or water, they live off the misery of others) I keed... I keed! (sortof)
It's like playing a practical joke on a lawyer. Added bonus, clearly the PR campaign is working.
LOL and Kudos to Discovery.
yllanhtims
· 5 months ago
Wow. Have some humor people. I think it's creative as hell!
Name
· 5 months ago
THANKS FOR SHARING. i just hope this isn't for a "Open Water 3" that would SUCK!
Name
· 5 months ago
And if it's for shark week - that would be cool.
PatWKirk
· 5 months ago
I'm a little (yeah right) older than most of the commenters, but I think I'd get a restraining order against the senders.
sharkdiver
· 4 months ago
As the 2009 Shark Week season winds to a close two issues are becoming self evident. This years Shark Week viewer numbers are up, and this years programming has been panned by nearly everyone.
Discovery has delivered a programming disaster. The first, and hopefully only, in the 23 year brand history of Shark Week.
As executives from Discovery Networks sit back to assess this years programming a conversation of "brand damage management" should be on table.
As FOX News discovered a long time ago - brand credibility demands more than a tag line.
The folks at Discovery made a dark calculation for ratings and in the process produced a season of mindless man made Shark Porn that despite assurances from a group of hand chosen "programming apologists" has been outed worldwide as nothing more than a ratings grab.
A ratings grab with a serious downside to the shark conservation movement and the ongoing perception of sharks. A species currently suffering one of the highest rates of destruction of any species on the planet - estimated at close to 90 million animals a year.
This mornings Ad Age quotes (click link):
"Sadly, this year Shark Week finally got caught up in its own hype. Forget the mammoth ad blitz that preceded it -- of course the network should call attention to its flagship property -- or the dotty "Sharkbook" stab at social networking. For reasons I don't quite understand, Discovery has chosen to inject artificial drama and personality into the rare genre of programming that demands neither."
"Great White Appetite" is exhibit A for what's gone wrong with Shark Week. Instead of dryly delivered shark-alogues from individuals inevitably identified as "migratory experts," "Appetite" presents viewers with himbo vacuousness in the form of host Charles Ingram. A former force recon marine, Ingram seems to have gleaned most of his knowledge about ocean predators from "Shark Tale" and thus comes across as a burlier, slightly less delusional Brian Fellows. His commentary ranges in depth and tone from "Whoo! Did you see that? That was insane!" to "Oh, man, what a rush. That was crazy, dude!" The last thing a smart-minded documentary series needs is a "Jackass" injection.
Ouch.
Discovery CAN come back. Shark Week is not a lost brand, just a misaligned brand, hijacked by lowest common denominator thinking and spiralling formulaic programming. Discovery must swing back to smart, edgy, programming, the kind of shows that once kept viewers educated and thrilled.
This original style of programming built the Shark Week brand and created loyal followers.
The devolution to this years level of programming was a clear misstep. Strong internal leadership, and a new slate of programming "idea makers" can and will save Shark Week from an ongoing and inglorious end.
All Comments
Television Spy
It's pretty obvious those who've posted comments above me must be from the network or PR firm responsible. The message I would heed from them is DO NOT write about this stuff! Journalists and freelancers are overburdened with enough. This sort of negative attention grabbing is what gives journalism a bad rap in the mainstream. This proves it!
As a publicist, I'd be ashamed to have done something so vulgar.
Janet Hansen
Scout66.com
And i'm not from the network or PR firm. I'm just another advertising / communications professional that will probably tune into Shark Week as a consumer.
This is good stuff. If for no other reason than I found it online and then subsequently posted about it on my own blog. The WOM is working, and i don't think anyone outside of particularly conservative and traditional PR professionals are offended by this. If every single one of those offended traditional PR professionals boycotted Shark Week and the Discovery Channel as a protest to this effort, Shark Week would most definitely still come out on top from all the interesting buzz that didn't bother all the other people that came in contact with it.
so bravo.
(we all know reporters don't need food or water, they live off the misery of others) I keed... I keed! (sortof)
It's like playing a practical joke on a lawyer. Added bonus, clearly the PR campaign is working.
LOL and Kudos to Discovery.
Discovery has delivered a programming disaster. The first, and hopefully only, in the 23 year brand history of Shark Week.
As executives from Discovery Networks sit back to assess this years programming a conversation of "brand damage management" should be on table.
As FOX News discovered a long time ago - brand credibility demands more than a tag line.
The folks at Discovery made a dark calculation for ratings and in the process produced a season of mindless man made Shark Porn that despite assurances from a group of hand chosen "programming apologists" has been outed worldwide as nothing more than a ratings grab.
A ratings grab with a serious downside to the shark conservation movement and the ongoing perception of sharks. A species currently suffering one of the highest rates of destruction of any species on the planet - estimated at close to 90 million animals a year.
This mornings Ad Age quotes (click link):
"Sadly, this year Shark Week finally got caught up in its own hype. Forget the mammoth ad blitz that preceded it -- of course the network should call attention to its flagship property -- or the dotty "Sharkbook" stab at social networking. For reasons I don't quite understand, Discovery has chosen to inject artificial drama and personality into the rare genre of programming that demands neither."
"Great White Appetite" is exhibit A for what's gone wrong with Shark Week. Instead of dryly delivered shark-alogues from individuals inevitably identified as "migratory experts," "Appetite" presents viewers with himbo vacuousness in the form of host Charles Ingram. A former force recon marine, Ingram seems to have gleaned most of his knowledge about ocean predators from "Shark Tale" and thus comes across as a burlier, slightly less delusional Brian Fellows. His commentary ranges in depth and tone from "Whoo! Did you see that? That was insane!" to "Oh, man, what a rush. That was crazy, dude!" The last thing a smart-minded documentary series needs is a "Jackass" injection.
Ouch.
Discovery CAN come back. Shark Week is not a lost brand, just a misaligned brand, hijacked by lowest common denominator thinking and spiralling formulaic programming. Discovery must swing back to smart, edgy, programming, the kind of shows that once kept viewers educated and thrilled.
This original style of programming built the Shark Week brand and created loyal followers.
The devolution to this years level of programming was a clear misstep. Strong internal leadership, and a new slate of programming "idea makers" can and will save Shark Week from an ongoing and inglorious end.
Cheers,
Patric Douglas CEO
www.sharkdiver.com
www.sharkdivers.com
www.sharkdivers.blogspot.com
www.guadalupefund.org
www.islandofthegreatwhiteshark.com
415.235.9410