Top 40 Publicity Stunts (SUPER-GALLERY)

This super gallery profiles TrendHunter.com’s selection of the top 40 publicly stunts.  You’ll see the list spans everything from dead body parts to free money.  As well, the list includes some of the best retro examples.

The kicker is that it can be tough to draw the line between shockvertising, clever ads and publicity stunts… Accordingly, I’ve sprinkled in a couple extra articles to ensure that you get your fix in this list.

Enjoy!

Just Getting Attention

Throwing Money From Planes - Tung Desem Waringin’s Publicity Stunt (VIDEO)

Instead of investing thousands of dollars in marketing campaigns, motivational speaker Tung Desem Waringin will throw 100 million rupiah ($10,740) out of a plane to promote his new book.  To put into perspective how much money this is, consider that many people in Indonesia live on under $2 a day. …

Skydiviving Graffiti - Honda Publicity Stunt (VIDEO)

19 skydivers spelled out the word Honda in three minutes and 20 seconds for the first live TV promo for Honda in the UK, inspired by the car manufacturer’s new advertising strap line, “Difficult is worth doing”. They also have a second much more choreographed version of the ad in which the sky…

Hosting Your Own Funeral - Lululemon Founder Travels in Coffin

Lululemon founder Chip Wilson will join with the city of Vancouver to celebrate the fact he is not dead yet by hosting his own funeral party, the Chip’s Not Dead Yet Memorial Mile.  The head of the innovative yoga company was carried around the city inside a coffin in the back of a vintage hearse, …

Shock

Punching Employees - Slow Motion Abuse as a PR Stunt (VIDEO)

A production company named Action Figure filmed its employees being punched in the face in slow motion to the rhythm of Robyn’s Be Mine song.  “The disturbing thing is that no one questioned it when all employees were asked to meet in Stage One so that we could punch them in the face,” says M…

Bathroom Blood Dispensers - Clue Guerrilla Campaign

Picture this: you go into a public washroom at a restaurant or bar and unassumingly squeeze liquid soap onto your palm from a seemingly normal dispenser. Oh it’s red, must smell like strawberries… You start washing your hands and boy, you’ve got a bloody mess on your hands!! This is what this wit…

Daredevil Soccer Stunts - Cesc Fàbregas for Nike T90 (VIDEO)

This humorous Nike commercial features Cesc Fàbregas, star of the British soccer team Arsenal F.C., and features him doing daredevil stunts to promote the Nike T90 shoes. Fitted with a special flame retardant suit, Fàbregas has a flaming soccer ball passed to him. Fàbregas stops the ball with his…

Fake Accidents - Discovery Channel Deadliest Catch: Accident or Not? (VIDEO)

The Discovery Channel has been pretty successful with their web-based viral videos, so their upcoming online show, the “Deadliest Catch” is already anticipated to be a hit.  The video shows a glass tank full of crabs falling and breaking, freeing hundreds of crustaceans.  I’m not sure if this ad w…

Tampon Chandeliers - O.B.

At first glance, this dramatic chandelier looks ordinarily beautiful, but look closer, and you’ll be bloody surprised! The monster-sized chandelier is actually composed of hundreds of white O.B. tampons.  The tampon brand is certainly soaking up a lot of attention from exhibit viewers. As long as t…

Murder Realism as Advertising - Print Campaign for ‘13th Street Murders’ (GALLERY)

As a companion to their creative Guerrilla bar bathroom campaign, German action and suspense channel, 13th Street, has unveiled an equally scary print ad campaign. Developed by Shackleton ad agency, Madrid, Spain, the ads depict realistic shocking murders. One poor guy met his fate on the hand of a…

Shock Advertising - Pedestrian Safety Ad in Brazil

Wickipedia defines Shock Advertising as “a form of advertising where social or moral boundaries are pushed in order to create buzz and controversy.  It depends on the mantra “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.” In the above example from the Brazil government, you can see that the definition of…

Machine Gun Camp for Kids (VIDEO)

Machine gun camp for kids?  Are you shocked yet?  Relax, the camp is fake, but the campaign is real. Last week YouTube popped up a new video for Camp Okutta, a children’s adventure camp just outside … [More]

Body Parts in Garbage Cans for The Truth Campaign (GALLERY)

There are more lives being thrown away by smoking every month than there are garbage cans in New York City.  To illustrate that point, the Truth campaign dumped fake body parts into dozens of garbage … [More]

Shockvertising - PETA Slaughters Humans

PETA has decided to alienate their target market, humans.  Their latest ad features slaughtered humans in order to draw out their feelings about humans slaughtering animals. [More]

Assvertise / Assvertising - Exactly What You Think: Everything is a Billboard (GALLERY)

You knew this was coming, so why are you in shock?  A new company, Ass-Vertise / Assvertise is already landing new clients with its innovative human-ass billboards.  Stare at the bum of an appealing lady OR man in NYC, and you’ll find yourself reading ads, including those shown for the New York Heal… [More]

Improv

700 Simultaneous Camera Flashes - Improv Everywhere Celebrates Brooklyn Bridge (VIDEO)

Improv Everywhere, the New York-based improvisation troupe which has been staging pre-planned ‘missions’ and pranks in public places since 2001, celebrated the 125th anniversary of New York City’s beautiful and historic Brooklyn Bridge by posting 700 of its ‘agents’ armed with cameras for something …

Viral Video Responses - Improv Everywhere Inspires 42 More Frozen Cities (VIDEO)

A good idea gets copied. A great idea infects like the plague, multiplying like rabbits on crack.The creatives behind Improv Everywhere are the masters of guerrilla marketing. It was cool enough when they got 200 people at to pose for Frozen Grand Central Station in New York to freeze in their tr… [More]

Improv Everywhere - 111 Topless Male Shoppers at Abercrombie and Fitch (VIDEO)

Ladies, would you shop at a store with 111 shirtless, sculpted men walking around? That was the basis of the latest creative mission by Improv Everywhere. New York City’s Abercrombie and Fitch on 5th Avenue, was crowded by female shoppers hungry to get a glimpse of the half-naked men while kicking o… [More]

Musical at a Mall - Thes Latest From Improv Everywhere (VIDEO)

Trend Hunter has covered a number of stunts caused by Imrov Underwear, and the ‘Musical in a Mall’ is the latest… Improv Everywhere is an unorthodox comedy group based in New York City, formed in 2001 by Charlie Todd.  Its slogan is “We Cause Scenes,” which the group lives up to by executing non-… [More]

No Pants Subway Ride - 900 Underground Underwear Enthusiasts in NYC (VIDEO)

On January 12th, 900 enthusiasts in NYC dropped their pants for the 7th Annual No Pants Subway Ride, with NYPD escorts and crowds so large that the under-pantied participants were spread out over three subway lines, and stretched six per car. Improv Everywhere helped organize similar No Pants events… [More]

Best Buy Fearful of People Dressed Like Its Employees

Improv Everywhere is a group that specializes in the organization of publicity stunts.  Their motto: “We cause scenes”.  Their latest event was to storm Best Buy dressed like employees.  Note the instructions from the website: 1) Blue Polo Shirt. Short sleeved. Any brand. Preferably with no logo.… [More]

Subway Parties

Subway parties have become a hip new phenomena.  How do you launch a subway party?  (1) Go on a media blitz promoting the party to as many friends as possible; (2) Get your costume and decorations; (3) pick the station and start time; and (4) party. Check out the pictures from this subway party in …

Simple and Sweet

Fake Vandalism - Vegemite Guerrilla Ads (GALLERY)

I hate Vegemite, but I do love their new guerrilla campaign. The ads feature fake vandalism with cricket balls appearing to be smashed through car windows and bus station ads, with the tag line, “Looks like the Aussies had their Vegemite today.” The live campaign was featured in different locations…

Guerilla Obesity Awareness Campaign - Every Fifth Child is Overweight (GALLERY)

Child obesity is fast becoming a global epidemic. The Health Promotion Switzerland foundation has come up with a creative guerilla campaign to raise the awareness of this serious issue.  The campaign uses the fact/slogan “Every Fifth Child is Overweight” on stickers placed on creatively designed p…

Publicity Stunt to Boost Movie Hype? - Morgan Spurlock Says He Found Osama bin Laden

The Hollywood rumor mill has it that Morgan Spurlock, who has just completed a documentary in the Middle East titled, “Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?” has actually found the elusive “Holy Grail” and infamous terrorist. Rumors began at the Berlin International Film Festival, when Spurlock…

Mirrorvertising - Guerrilla Campaign from ACK Insurance

In a new campaign for ACK Insurance, Partizan Media has created mirrorvertising.  The guerrilla ads are made using images imprinted on real mirrors.  The unsuspecting driver will look at their rear view mirror and think there is a dinosaur staring right back at them… Bonus: When you rear end the c…

Papa John’s Guerilla Ad - Fake Delivery Man in Your Peep Hole

Papa John’s Peru has created viral buzz with its guerilla Delivery Man ads.  The ads, created by Saatchi and Saatchi, consist of a little dude taped to your door.  The catch is that it looks like a delivery man in your peep hole.

Big Stuff

Supersized Eva Longoria

It might seem like a mirage, but it’s not. It’s a publicity stunt for Maxim magazine. In celebration of its 100th issue, Maxim placed a massive reproduction of one of its magazine covers in the Nevada desert near Las Vegas. The cover features bikini-clad Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria and r…

iPod Ad Visibile From Space

So you people might have laughed at the idea of rooftop advertising, but some say Apple is taking it seriously and is launching an ad that will be visible on Google Earth and Google Maps. From Boakes.org: “The sheer size of the publicity stunt is difficult to comprehend. It covers 893240 square metr…

Web 2.0

Big Blog Pranksters - Gizmodo Blogger Banned from CES (VIDEO)

At least one Gizmodo blogger has been banned from CES for life after using a device to shut down all the flat screen monitors at CES.  The Gizmodo prankster was using a TV-B-Gone Kit which fires off IR beams that power down almost every time of LCD panel.  He used the device to power down many of th…

Brands as Publicity Stunts

Cocaine Energy Drink Becomes Headline Controversy (as Planned) (VIDEO)

Two weeks ago we covered the launch of the Cocaine Energy Drink.  Now, it’s all falling into place as the drink is becoming headline news with top tier politicians upset with the brand name.  This is even better than the free publicity the Las Vegas drink makers could have expected. NEW YORK (Reute…

Meth Coffee - Super-Caffeinated Brew + Another Shocker Label

Last year, the launch of Cocaine Energy Drink became headline controversy.  You knew another brand would follow.  Well, here it is: Meth Coffee.  Meth Coffee is a Super Caffeinated Brew from San Fran… [More]

Personal Marketing

Fake Ads (Follow Up) - Prankster Who Published Fake Ads Tells His Tale

In March, Trend Hunter featured a prankster who sent fake Gucci Ads of himself to a large Swiss Magazine… The magazine thought he worked for Gucci and published the ads… In a recent interview for Spiegel, the prankster’s story has been made public.  Apparently, this wasn’t his first prank.  He …

Eating Dog To Protest The Queen - Vegan Performance Artist Makes a Statement

The world is going to the dogs, literally. Last year Prince Phillip shot a fox but it held onto life for five minutes before it was clubbed to death by his hunting party. Months later, seeing that justice was never served to the royal family for their antics, performance artist, vegetarian and anima…

YouTube Ad Stunts - The Tale of LonelyGirl15 and Her Last Video (VIDEO)

The massive success of LonelyGirl15’s YouTube videos has been all the rage on the net.  LonelyGirl was a lonely young women who poured out her insecurities to the internet.  This week, she released her final video and the rumours of an ad stunt came true. “To millions of fans across the globe, she’…

Celebrity Stunts

Extreme AdverStunts - Kobe Jumps over Snakes for Nike (VIDEO)

Recently, TrendHunter.com published an article that featured Los Angeles Lakers superstar shooting guard Kobe Bryant jumping over a moving Aston Martin. Now, Kobe, accompanied by Wee-Man, Party Boy and other members of the cast of the movie Jackass, repeat the stunt, this time jumping over a plastic…

Extreme Stunt YouTube Ads - Kobe Bryant Jumps Over Aston Martin for Nike (VIDEO)

Los Angeles Lakers superstar shooting guard Kobe Bryant did a YouTube ad for Nike where, in an act of macho bravado, he jumps over an Aston Martin car coming straight at him at 50 miles per hour. Nicely executed stunt if in fact the maneuver was real.  Before the end of the commercial, Kobe, in a P…

Planted Publicity? - Another Leaked Paris Hilton Video?

An online website claims to have LEGALLY bought the contents of a storage facility that belonged to Paris, which contained another leaked Paris Hilton video.  Suspicious.  Only in this case, the contents were sold at auction because she neglected to pay a $208 bill. The company put the entire conten…

Where is Dennis Rodman Now? Almost Dead?

From his famous tattoos to landing helicopters in his back yard to show up for parties, Dennis Rodman was always a character.  In the latest PR stunt by GoldenPlace.com, Rodman arrived in a coffin.  Oh, I get it. Well, actually I don’t, but you know...

Britney Spears Shaves Her Head - Publicity Stunt?

Britney Spears bald?  That’s right.  In a fit of anxiety, Britney Spears has shaved her own head completely bald.  Will this start a new trend of teenage girls shaving their head?  OR - more likely - … [More]

Fake People

Fake Prostitutes - Cut Out Signs To Make a Statement (VIDEO)

If you are not a property owner and you fight against the unfair rises in the rents month after month, the solution is knocking at your door: fill the neighborhood with prostitutes! You can do it easi… [More]

Social Guerilla Campaigns - Child Labour (GALLERY)

World Vision launched a campaign in Netherland to raise awareness of the issue of child labour on the 26th of March, 2008. One hundred children demonstrated and visited embassies and the Dutch House of Parliament that day.  Ad agency Ogilvy came up with this creative guerilla campaign to support th…

Public Urination as Advertising - Guerrilla Ad Campaign

Just when you got all excited, I need to tell you that the human publically urinating for the Privy Council is actually a maniquen.  Still, impressive.  The campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi is an attempt to relieve the New York restroom shortage by taking the issue to the streets.  At the Privy Council… [More]

Cardboard Children - Sneeky Cut Outs Scare Drivers Slow

Realistic, life-size cardboard cut-outs of children are being used in a Northeastern Ohio neighborhood to slow down speeding cars. Mike Wood of West Salem, Ohio says that he originally started printin… [More]

Want More?

If you like publicity stunts, you might also like pranks and shockvertising!  Check these out:

Top 40 Pranks - Prank Ideas for April Fool’s Day (SUPER GALLERY)

Looking for the top pranks of all time?  With April Fool’s Day just around the corner, it’s time to ‘get your prank on’.  Accordingly, we’ve prepared a cluster of our favorite pranks.  Hopefully y… [More]

Top 50 Shockvertisements - Controversial Ads (SUPER GALLERY)

Creating an emotional connection is crucial to effective marketing campaigns. One common technique is to arouse the feeling of shock. Some of these ad campaigns really push the limits of what could b… [More]