Viral marketing is spreading like a bad disease, and sometimes those with “guerilla marketing fever” just aren’t immune to the temptation to lie.
We’ll find out soon enough if the Birmingham SteelDogs are barking down the path to the dark side.
A few days ago, billboards started popping up around Birmingham, stirring support to shut down figure skating. The billboards linked to a companion website:
Support those who offer wholesome alternatives to figure skating. In Birmingham, Alabama, an arena football team is making a difference. By building their field on top of the largest ice rink in the state, they have assured there will be absolutely NO figure skating on these dates. There will only be exciting football games with plenty of fun for the kids. Even though the Birmingham Steeldogs have not returned any of our calls, we have included a link to their website because we want to support their obvious anti-figure-skating stance. Buy your tickets now and STRIKE A BLOW AGAINST THIS PSUEDO-SPORT!!!
Now, with all the talk about transparency, you’d think the Steeldogs would own up to it when asked. Instead, the statement from managing partner Scott Myers feigns total ignorance:
“The Birmingham Steeldogs are in no way opposed to figure skating,” Myers said. “In fact, I have really enjoyed watching the ‘Skating With Celebrities’ television program that airs before ‘24′ on Fox 6.”
“We are in full agreement, however, that the Steeldogs are a great family entertainment value,” Myers added. “We believe that all sports fans, regardless of what their favorite sport is, should come out and enjoy arena football this season.”
(Myers ought to be a skating fan — he’s the former General Manager of the Birmingham Bulls ECHL franchise, which rode a bear market out of town years ago.)
The thinly-veiled disguise of Larry Pamper was used to kick off the whole buzz on the Steeldogs’ message boards. Apparently, “Pamper” is such a big fan that this is hiis one and only post.
In light of all the recent gnashing of teeth about transparency in public relations, will the SteelDogs go to the doghouse over this? Probably not. When it comes to minor-league sports, the only real controversy you ever face is if you bungle the selection of a mascot.
(No, John, I’m not talking about Houston soccer. Vince McMahon’s XFL came very close to dubbing its Birmingham franchise the “Blast,” a great alliterative name that just doesn’t set to well in a town known for a fatal church bombing.)
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Occasionally, things work out. (Oh, and some other random B.S.)
Finally, the banfigureskating.com story I broke (hahaha) the other day is starting to gain steam. Ike over at Accentuate the Positive has some further information on the campaign. I highly doubt this will come to any increased ticket sales, but we shal…
Trackback by An Utter Waste of Time — March 23, 2006 @ 12:54 am
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[...] I don’t advocate doing their jobs for them — because it can come back to bite you if the news-entity has not been transparent. Speaking of “transparency,” our friend “Larry Pamper” from Banfigureskating.com is trying to perpetuate the idea that he is not connected to the Birmingham Steeldogs. [...]
Pingback by Accentuate the Positive, 2.0 » AtP2: Your weekend reading assignment — March 24, 2006 @ 4:03 pm
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These minor-league teams are notorious for publicity stunts that backfire, but I guess they figure they have nothing to lose.
Unfortunately, these campaigns just give PR/marketing a bad name all the way around.
Comment by John Wagner — March 21, 2006 @ 6:23 pm
Hmm, let’s do a little investigation…
A quick whois check of the banfigureskating.com domain shows “Crawford Brand Advertising” as the registrant, but hiding behind the Network Solutions mailing address. The same whois check of steeldogs.com shows Infomedia registered as their web design team here in Birmingham. Looking at the source code, it’s clear they’re using different designers (not just from look/feel) since the code is very different. If the two are by the same team, they’ve done an admirable job of covering their tracks. But there’s more…
The anti-figureskating site is hosted at 130.94.67.158 and the steeldogs site is at the EXACT same IP number (verified by pinging both domain names)… CASE SOLVED!!
Comment by Curtis — March 21, 2006 @ 10:52 pm
Curtis, you rock.
I was too lazy to re-school myself on the webtracing tools.
If “Larry Pamper” had been just a bit more prolific instead of a one-post wonder, the “ignore the 4th wall” part of my brain might have suspended enough disbelief for me to enjoy it.
Comment by Ike — March 21, 2006 @ 11:26 pm
I spotted the billboard over the weekend and tracked it back to the Steeldogs fairly easily. I hope it works out for them but I have my doubts
Comment by Shadowhelm — March 22, 2006 @ 7:30 am
And I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!!!
Seriously guys, I’ve got a legitimate gripe with figure skating that you couldn’t possibly understand. Like Brian Adams said in his gutwrenching power ballad; “It Cuts Like a Knife.” But it doesn’t “Feel So Right” so maybe that wasn’t the best analogy. But anyway, I think you read me. Please try to see my side of things. Maybe a visit to my blog could help you understand better where I’m coming from.
http://www.myspace.com/banfigureskating
Sincerely,
“Pamp”
Comment by Larry Pamper — March 23, 2006 @ 8:17 pm
I’m so happy to be referred to as a kid. I usually only get that reference from my father .
Comment by Curtis — March 25, 2006 @ 1:27 pm