In today’s Introduction to Public Relations class, we watched a classic episode of the classic 1970s TV show “WKRP in Cincinnati” :: “Turkeys Away.” Though I paid to download the episode from iTunes, I just discovered it’s also available for free through Hulu.
In this episode, which was based on a botched promotion from a radio station in Atlanta, live turkeys dropped from a helicopter. Chaos ensues.
What can we learn about how NOT to do a promotion from Mr. Carlson’s fiasco? I’ll get the list started:
- Communicate with your entire team before launching a promotional campaign (or a turkey).
- Do your research! It’s best to learn ahead of time that turkeys don’t fly.
- Get permission before doing a stunt.
- Know what is considered news in your local market. Giving away turkeys for Thanskgiving wasn’t news. (But watching live turkeys plummet from a helicopter probably would be news.)
- Brainstorm for what could possibly go wrong before you proceed with a promotion.
What would you add to this list?
very very good
very good thank you
I found the video clip to be very amusing. I had not previously heard of the show however when I asked my parents if they had ever watched it they both said yes and were surprised that I knew what WKRP was. We talked and laughed about the turkey episode.
Getting to the point, I agree with all of the steps that you listed in your post. I think it is really important to be prepared and make sure you consider everything before taking such a risk of launching turkeys out of a helicopter. I learned from this episode that it is really important to work as a team in public relations.
I had never heard of the show before- it was so funny! But from a PR perspective, a disaster! It really goes to show how important PR is to a company, but good PR that is. The promotional plan should have been researched and well thought out… or maybe hired a professional! Poor guy!
It’s always important to look at a promo campaign from ALL angles before thinking about putting it into action!