When PR stunts go wrong
For years PR stunts have been used as an effective and perfectly valid means of generating publicity for organisations and brands.
The good side is creating, in an easy and quick way, media frenzy and buzz around the project the stunt is based on.
But what if a PR stunt doesn't really turn out the way it was supposed to?
Is there really no such thing as bad publicity?
Recently, a marketing stunt involving a hunt for convincing replica human remains across central London went awry, with a number of body parts going missing.
The stunt was orchestrated by a London PR agency to promote the Friday the 13th launch of Resident Evil 5, a zombie and gore-focused console game.
The stunt involved a treasure hunt in which around 50 members of the public had to retrieve legs, arms, heads and torsos from a number of secret locations.
Is this just a case of harmless bad taste or is it highly offensive and disturbing, particularly out in the open where children could have been exposed?
The stunt attracted a number of complaints to the police from horrified passers-by and officers arrived at the finishing line to move event organisers on.
A PR spokesman insisted that the loss of the body parts, which sparked notices online and in print for their return, was not a further stunt to generate more PR.
With recent headlines about a real trail of limbs in Hertfordshire, just imagine the headlines if this launch had been a few weeks later.
With this in mind, should there be greater regulation of PR activity – an Advertising Standards Agency for the profession to prevent it from sliding into disrepute?