Tag: Marketing

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When I attended the University of Kansas in the late 1970’s, a friend who was an actor got a small role in the Peter Shaffer play Equus. Equus had several nude scenes in it and he was looking forward to blowing the minds of the people in Lawrence, Kansas. Lawrence was playing its own role here instead of a university town with a mostly cosmopolitan population, it was taking on the the role of a small Kansas town rife with closed minds about nudity. I also was taking a course in Modern Theater. The professor encouraged his students to see the play because he thought it would blow our minds. Using almost the exact words as my friend. Hmm.

Blowing the minds of the audience was very much a part of the purpose of this play. To ensure that the damage done to our minds was not so severe, there were warnings about the nudity in the play so everyone who entered the theater was prepared for the genital reveal which , at least to my mind, spoiled the whole shock value of having nudity in the play. I was waiting for it.

Then, the type of person who would wander into a student play at a University is just not your typical small town Kansan. They would be more academic, more cosmopolitan, and more open to nudity in the theater. By 1979, even in Kansas, most people who followed the arts already had seen their fair of nudity before Equus exposed them to some more. But how do you get them into theater to see the nudity? Oh, yeah, why don’t we create a little controversy and, lo and behold, it worked, the controversy brought people into the show.

This is what I think happened with Bad Bunny’s Half-time performance. It was meant to provoke a certain segment of the population. It successfully provoked them. They lost their minds as they do and started demanding all kinds of things which cause the Media to follow the controversy. This created a demand to see the show. It was a genius marketing ploy — hyping the first Spanish language performer at the Super Bowl. The buzz was great, a lot of people watched it because most people had no idea who Bad Bunny was or what they were about to see. The television advertisers got their audience, so the money they paid was well spent.

Everybody is happy — particularly, I imagine, Bad Bunny who got a lot of free press and millions of potential new customers for his music. For the vast majority of people, though, it was a meaningless experience in a life filled with meaningless experiences. But no one’s minds were seriously blown here. It will hardly be a memory in a year or two.

But you have to give credit to the the organizers of the show, they certainly showed they knew what they are doing. If you got something to sell, I certainly would recommend them. Buzz is their middle name.

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One of the most remarkable accomplishments of modern marketing is the one the Rich have pulled on the American Middle Class. They have managed to make Americans more afraid of taxing wealthy people in the unlikely event that these members of the Middle Class become billionaires than the much more likely event that they will need, at some point in their life, available social services that will help them weather a financial storm.

It is peculiarly American trait which turns its full power against the Poor for being poor and fuels fear in the Middle Class that if they tax too much the whole money machine we have come to depend upon will come crashing down around them and, then, everybody will be poor. Is that what you want? Everyone being poor. How this message continues to attract believers is beyond me but lets face it, it somehow continues to hold a large segment of the American population in it’s thrall.

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If nothing else, David Chappelle is a marketing genius. He artfully generated some free publicity for his television show. Controversy is the best way to get the media involved. Chappelle provided them with a controversial topic. The media, whose distribution of controversies is its only reliable function, hungrily bit the hook and frontpaged the outrage. Particularly perplexing is how the transgender community fell all over itself to give Chappelle more free publicity. Controversy rarely stops people from doing anything, it does, however, entice people who might never have even heard about if you hadn’t bothered to complain about it.

I tried to understand it but, for the life of me, I can’t figure out exactly what Chappelle did wrong. He is making fun of transgender people. OK. Probably not a good idea for people who are sensitive about this issue.  Still, it is in his job description to make fun of people.  What he said that makes him transphobic is unclear to me. All I can get is that he doesn’t adhere to some standard people are expected to follow in order to avoid being called transphobic.

Since I can’t make heads or tails, I now have to see his show. Standup isn’t really my thing, I have absolutely nothing against it. But if I have a choice, I prefer other types of entertainment. Standup was always something that I could pass on for other shows.  Now, however, I want to see Chappelle’s show. Everyone is talking about it, I need to know what I am talking about in order to put my two cents in.

So, other than people yelling at him, which, ironically enough, only creates more controversy, so more free publicity for him, Chappelle has come out of this unscathed. The press, on the other hand, has no excuse.  This was, maybe, a one-day story.  Then came the yelling match.  The media, who is patently unable to pass up screaming individuals, kept the story going.

When will people learn that if you want to stop people from seeing something, absolutely, positively keep your mouth shut. Otherwise the very thing you wanted people not to know, will now be spread even further than the performer ever dreamed possible without the controversy.  Kudos for Chappelle for showing us how to sell a television show using free publicity.