Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Final Analysis

Say what you want about the frenzied pitch of security-sensitive US and the turmoil caused in Boston by Aqua Teen Hunger Force (sure this buzz campaign was dumb --if they did it on April 12, 2000 - maybe not so much), but here's the final objective marketing analysis...

1) It was ethically dubious - beyond the legal issues - it contravened each piece of WOMMA's Ethical ROI  code- it did not disclose relationship - who it was speaking for, it did not disclose opinion - what they believed and one could argue forceably (in Boston anyway) it did not disclose identity - what the thing was - they could have subtly done this in a way that would have steered clear of the debacle it became. Slimy.

2) it cost a good guy his job - the GM of the Cartoon Network has stepped down /been forced out because of this. The poor guy Jim Sample might not have even been involved in the decision and based on appearances only, he seemed to be a stand up executive - 13 years running a successful cable TV shop implies a level of competance and likability in entertainment land. Shame.

3)  it  did not make media sense - some contrarians are saying now that the press coverage even with the $2 million penalty Turner Broadcasting served up easily surpasses the value represented by Super Bowl ads. First of all, that's the marketing equivalent of saying "well at least I'm cleaner than the town drunk" and secondly, you do have to ascribe some relative value of the quality and message of the coverage (two guys go to jail, most of Boston hates you, people's first reaction who thought this thing up, your leader falls on the sword).  Misguided.

...leading finally to my last point

4) it did not move the needle - the Nielsen ratings show that the first Aqua Teen episode after this national headline grabber jumped a mere 6,000 viewers from 380k to 386k - easily within a research margin of error - with all the confusion and turmoil created, the inconvenience to Boston (why just them I have no idea - the campaign ran in 10 cities), the damage to any kind of non-traditional marketing vehicle in the future, the likelihood of some type of government regulation governing marketing practices and the $2 million+ investment - you would have expected a much better gawk factor. Flushing dollars away.

I hate to rant on firms that take risks and try to be remarkable so I'll hold short of completely spitting on Aqua Teen's grave (unfortunately, I'm sure there are 1000s of equally-incompetent conservative business decision makers saying "I told you so right now") - we do have to get our heads on straight here.

The Takeaway:
- Apply some common sense - take a day or two to think about stuff after you've developed it - sober second thought is like the Sunday morning after a Saturday night bender - it may hurt and be associated with a dulling headache but it helps
- Make sure whatever you do has some remote connection to increasing the value of the brand you're representing - we're rainmakers not playmakers - we're in business to make business - this certainly did not have that imperative (I have the same issue with the current Bride Gone Mad videos now too)
- Build a connection with your viewers that will last for more than this 15 minutes - ask the question, what's going to get somebody to watch for a full season and also tell others