Monday, April 5, 2010

April Fool’s prank and Angry Whopper

TODAY, Tuesday April 6, 2010, IMPACT, PAGE B5
http://imcms2.mediacorp.sg/CMSFileserver/documents/006/PDF/20100406/0604IMC034.pdf
By Peter Yeo, peteryeo@mediacorp.com.sg



PHOTO: Turns out that Ris Low joining 987FM was an April Fool’s prank by Burger King.
PHOTO by Christopher Toh

A wicked sense of humour is key to a successful marketing campaign


PHOTO: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4321371848_053ef3be0a_o.jpg

WHEN news of Ris Low joining The Shan And Rozz Show on MediaCorp radio station 987FM was announced last week, a storm of protests erupted within hours on the station’s Facebook page and through their hotline.

Listeners were bewildered and angry; some even threatened to stop listening to the station. Which elicited this response from the station’s senior creative director Georgina Chang: “People claim they’re not going to tune in, but I know that they will tune in anyway ... even if it’s just to find more things to complain about.”


PHOTO: Angry Whopper
http://keithland.byethost8.com/cutenews/data/upimages/angry-whopper.jpg


On April 1, the station revealed the stunt to be an April Fool’s joke in conjunction with Burger King’s Angry Whopper launch.


PHOTO: http://blog.deeperquestions.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/angry-whopper.JPG

The burger chain had wanted an idea involving DJs being angry for the launch of their spicy burger dubbed the Angry Whopper.


PHOTO: http://www.japanprobe.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/angry-whopper-japan1.jpg

The team, made up of Ms Chang, Shan and Rozz, then pitched to take the idea further with the introduction of a celebrity to stir things up.

“Ris was the unanimous choice because Shan and Rozz had interviewed her before and the response was quite good. Besides, Ris loves publicity and she is game for doing outrageous things, so it kind of fell into place,” said Ms Chang.


PHOTO: http://www.asiaone.com/A1MEDIA/digital/12Dec09/others/20091216.111349_rislow.jpg

One would think corporations would be more careful of strategies that could incite such passionate response after SingPost’s failed post-box defacing campaign, but Mr Philip Ho, head of marketing at Burger King, said: “In all fairness, SingPost was very daring, but where they missed the boat was they caused a public nuisance. I don’t think what we did was a public nuisance. On the contrary, it showed the kind of passion that the listeners of 987FM have for this radio station.”



PHOTO: http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/photogallerys/Suzuki-GSXR1000-1.jpg

Ms Chang added: “For me, I’d rather have lots of bad publicity, even better if it’s good publicity, than no publicity. The reputation of the station was never laid on the line because this is good, clean fun.”



PHOTO: http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/photogallerys/Suzuki-GSXR1000-5.jpg


This exercise showed that Singaporeans do have a sense of humour, after the prank was revealed, lots of people posted congratulatory notes on its success.




PHOTO: http://images.totalgamingnetwork.com/images/TES4-Horsearmor01.jpg


As a gesture of goodwill, Burger King offered the Angry Whopper Jr for $1 with every medium Coke purchased on April 2. While the hot promotion for the spicy burger was welcome, as evident with the long queues, it is the knowledge that the airwaves is safe for listeners, that will let us sleep soundly.
By Peter Yeo, peteryeo@mediacorp.com.sg



PHOTO: FARALIZA TAN, 22, her successor, Ms Ris Low, though in previous interviews, she has called for the public to support Ms Low's efforts to improve.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3122/2641439031_688008b8e5_o.jpg
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1165125/+0&



PHOTO: Angry Whopper
http://keithland.byethost8.com/cutenews/data/upimages/angry-whopper.jpg



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