Word of the week: A PUBLICITY STUNT
Related expressions
1. a publicity stunt – something that is done to get attention for the person or people responsible for it.
The company organized a publicity stunt to draw public and media attention of their new product.
2. to pull sth off – to succeed in doing or achieving something difficult.
If he manages to pull the deal off, he will become a multimillionaire.
3. hype – when something is continually advertised and discussed in newspapers, on television in order to attract everyone’s interest.
Too much hype around our new product can scare potential customers away.
In context
What would you do to draw media attention? Would you participate in shows like “You Can Dance” or “I Have a Talent”? It doesn’t matter if you have the talent or not, what counts is that you will be in the media spotlight. Celebrities, whether they admit to it or not, live off the hype and spin surrounding their private lives. It’s a cheap way to obtain popularity. As one famous person said: “The bigger the humbug, the better people will like it.
According to our definition, a publicity stunt is a planned event that is organized to draw public attention. The more noise made around the event the better chances of the stunt being successful. The right time and an unusual visual sensation can additionally increase the chances of success. However, there are exceptions to this rule as it’s not always possible to pull a stunt off. The stunt can flop if it is not able to promote the concept behind it regardless of how outrageous or dangerous it is or if a minor detail is not taken into account like the weather.
Here is an example of a publicity stunt that went wrong. An American company, Snapple, which produces frozen juice treats, decided to build the world’s tallest popsicle made of frozen juice and place it in Times Square. But the company didn’t take into consideration the high temperatures and the frozen tower melted, sending kiwi-strawberry flavoured juice pouring into the streets of downtown Manhattan.
Read more
Publicity stunts-what are they
Ten greatest publicity stunts by the Guardian
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