'Faceless Aliens' NOT a car ad campaign

The recent hyped 'Faceless Aliens' news coverage has now been suggested as an ad campaign for Lotus cars. But, what if it is not?

If you were testing people's reacts to possible aliens walking among them you could run a test like that and then cover it up by saying it is an ad campaign - because many would believe that. Also, it would highly irresponsible for any company to run an ad campaign by putting faceless masked people among the public acting weird without seeking assistance from the authorities who might just have something to say about that kind of 'joke' that could cause panic etc.

Why haven't any of the faceless aliens been approached by police? Why haven't they been stopped and searched after being seen on CCTV cameras all over London? After 7/7 you'd think the police would stop people who have faces like that. Unless of course they have been warned in advance. But, why would the authorities go along with it when they could prevent it?

At the very least any company using that kind of ad campaign could get into serious trouble with the advertising complaints commission. And what if people attacked them? Or they panicked an elderly person who then died from heart failure. The whole thing is suspicious.

And any company in the right mind would not mind all the hassle surrounding this if the authorities got involved. Thats the kind of publicity you just cannot pay for and if the press get involved then you just got national/international advertising at a fraction of your cost.

Im sure the marketing people for which ever company this is have sat there and thought all of this all the way through. Thats what they are there for to give it a little spin and get as much coverage as possible. All publicity is good publicity right???

Originally posted by thesaint
And any company in the right mind would not mind all the hassle surrounding this if the authorities got involved. Thats the kind of publicity you just cannot pay for and if the press get involved then you just got national/international advertising at a fraction of your cost.

Only those outside of industry believe that kind of so called 'common sense' approach to this kind of thing. It actual fact the legal problems could certainly outweigh the advantages. And getting your actors arrested for possible acts of terrorism is not good on any level. Seeing your company name next to headline that includes ‘arrested under terror laws' and '7/7' is a real downer for ad execs and their future prospects!

Originally posted by thesaint
Im sure the marketing people for which ever company this is have sat there and thought all of this all the way through. Thats what they are there for to give it a little spin and get as much coverage as possible. All publicity is good publicity right???

That is a cliché and no, not all publicity is good publicity. For example all of the above points I made about terrorism.

If someone had grabbed one of those faceless aliens and stabbed them thinking they were an alien, would that be good publicity? No. Would the family of the actor who had been stabbed, talking on all live news and chat shows about the irresponsible ad campaigning that caused the death of their loved one, be good publicity? No.

Would the subsquent call for tighter legislation on advertising be good for ad companies? No.

Would the millions the company would have to pay out to the murder victim's family be good for the ad company? Would all the publicity surrounding the legal case be good publicity? No.

Not all publicity is good publicity.

Just my opinion but i think that is taking things a bit bar. I work as a finance director for an international retail company and designer and i know of many a times the company has used shock tactics for publicity.

Linking this to terrorism is madness i think. I mean if these people were niked up in black with hoods up and a scarf around their mouth then i could see the authorities stepping in but this is blatantly some kind of advertising campaign or protest we do not yet know the meaning of.

Covent Garden London almost every day im there (About twice a week)
there is a street performer who wears a mask just like this and plays one of those life statues.

I would love it if it was some anti CCTV/Big Brother group protesting at the amount of times per day us British are caught on camera and it possibly is

Just my opinion though no hard feelings

reply to post by Marsrising


Everything you pointed out would just be more cheap advertising for the ad company. Even negative response keeps your product in the public eye.

United Airlines still flies to Dulles.
Wendy's still sells chili.
McDonald's has hot coffee.

People have short memories.




[edit on 7/4/2008 by garyo1954]

You can't compare hot coffee to someone making out they are an alien.

People get arrested under terrorism laws for wearing the 'wrong' kind of t-shirt in the UK or standing near an air base, those faceless aliens could definitely be arrested under those laws.

But what about the point that this could be a psychological experiment masquerading as an ad campaign?

reply to post by Marsrising


Compare advertising to advertising. That is what your post is dealing with here.

Do companies suffer unintentional setbacks? I think the answer is yes, and cite McDonald's, Wendy's, United as examples.

Do those setbacks bring them free advertising? Again, yes.

The overall idea must be taken into account when you deal with such a thing.

What do we have? An ordinary couple, albeit faceless, out and about enjoying life to the fullest.

For whatever reason they may be faceless they don't appear threatening, by any means.

Perhaps someone should check the Wimbleton gate to see if any faceless persons came through....or maybe the question should be 'WHY' hasn't someone checked the gate....

Lotus faceless people ad site

Its a bloody stupid add from lotus. Nothing to see here apart from some idiotic campaign for a sodding car.

Originally posted by garyo1954
reply to post by Marsrising

 

Compare advertising to advertising. That is what your post is dealing with here. ...

No it isn't. I wrote the OP, I KNOW what it is dealing with.

Why is it so difficult for some of you to understand the point I have repeated and explained already.

"But what about the point that this could be a psychological experiment masquerading as an ad campaign? "

Now do you get what my post is about?

Originally posted by Dan Tanna
Lotus faceless people ad site

Its a bloody stupid add from lotus. Nothing to see here apart from some idiotic campaign for a sodding car.

Read my post again. I didn't say it wasn't being presented as an ad campaign. Think outside of the box!

Do you think this site may be related?

www.theendisnear.co.uk...

Very ominous, and it seems to have popped up on numerous forums and sites at about the same time... I signed up for the newsletter... hope I'll be okay.