In the age of information explosion, it becomes that much harder to set yourself apart from the rest. Creativity seems to be the key, and you need all the publicity you can get. Recently, Chevy tried just that with a Write-Your-Own-Ad-Approach.
At first glance, it seems that the approach backfired with critics posting negative ads. Even the negative attacks, however, seem to have served its end because it succeeded in attracting people in the first place. So Chevy was either really smart or really stupid in coming up with this creative idea. I vote for the former.
Even the critical ads give them publicity, some would call it viral marketing, by getting people to talk about it. I think this was all considered in their calculations. Why else would they leave them up on their site? Leaving the negative ads is a statement on its own. They can always defend their positions later, which will in turn give them even more exposure to the public. Ironically, leaving the "attacks" online shows their confidence in their product, the Chevy Tahoe.
I think this was a very smart move on part of Chevy. If you want to make your own advertisement, it’s not too late. Try it yourself.
Rebecca E. Ruiz @ Wed, 04/05/2006 - 10:19am
But sometimes it isn't even as hard as that: you can let someone else inadvertently do the work for you. As I read your post, all I could think about was Al Franken's book LIES: And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them, where Fox News filed a law suit against Franken over his usage of the phrase "Fair and Balanced." Actually, they wanted to sue Franken for attacking them, Bill O'Reilly, etc., but that was they only legal reason they could conjure up.
Nevertheless their attempts not only failed when they had to drop their suit because they had no case, but also backfired when popularity for the book increased to the point where Franken's book became a best-seller.