Marketing Exploitation of the End of the World

Croats are probably the only nation for whom the Day of Judgment is certain, and not a Mayan duck. Of course, I do not mean the cruel forecasts of Standard & Poor’s, nor the projections of the economic situation, but rather that on Friday, December 21, the third independent festival of creative communication, Judgment Day, will be held at the Zagreb Mosque in the Square of Victims of Fascism.

The best creatives from eleven categories will be awarded with appropriate decorations chosen by the largest domestic jury composed of about two hundred marketers and forty client representatives. In unity and celebration, it is planned that domestic creative forces will welcome the end of the world. In this case, the end of the world has come as if ordered because the organizers of the ‘judgment festival’ have received the opportunity to exploit all the media fuss that has arisen around the alleged end of civilization for their own advertising purposes. And they are not the only ones. In fact, they are small babies compared to what marketers are capable of doing to earn a few kuna on December 21. Among those who want to exploit consumer greed or at least have a good time at the expense of pessimistic projections are event organizers, restaurateurs, and hoteliers who offer memorable experiences and a few brands.

Unresistant Chevy One of the latter, whose campaign thought best on the American marketing scene, is that of the Chevrolet Silverado brand. The advertisement, which premiered during the Super Bowl, shows a driver and his dog who managed to survive the end of the world because they were driving a Chevy. However, that is not the only reason why so much has been written about the advertisement. Namely, the surviving driver met with a few of his friends, also ‘Chevy lovers’, who informed him that Dave did not survive because he was driving a Ford. Clearly, after the advertisement saw the light of day, the team from Ford threatened with a lawsuit, and from Chevy, they replied that they were ready to apologize if they were convinced otherwise after Judgment Day.
As reported by CNBC, the biggest exploiters of the end of the world belong to the service sector, which they proved by describing truly impressive packages available to consumers around the world, especially worried Americans. For example, for $79,000 (yes, thousand), the Mexican Rosewood Mayakoba offers a package for two poetically titled ‘Ultimate New Beginning’ which includes spiritual cleansing with a Mayan shaman, a private helicopter ride, and an archaeological tour of key sites of ancient civilizations. The San Diego hotel chain The Keating offers a package ‘End of the World’ for a significant $666, which includes a last supper and fitness training as preparation for escaping from zombies. In the hotel, arrangements reserved after December 21 are sold for 40 percent cheaper, and their flyers advertise this arrangement as a real bet: if the end of the world really comes, you will lose money; if not, it will be a good ‘deal’ for you.

Pure PR However, The Keating can hide in front of what The Curtis Hotel has prepared. For $12,021, it allows the rental of an entire floor so you can ‘party’ like there is no tomorrow. Renters also receive ‘radiation pills, packages of dehydrated and frozen food, and gas masks’ and have a tattoo master at their disposal. Although to any reasonable being this offer sounds like complete nonsense at first (which has been proven – the hotel did not sell a single arrangement), it is actually a well-thought-out strategy of hotel marketers. They managed to turn the dust raised around Judgment Day to their own advantage and gain free PR in all key American media, and, as you can see, they are also being written about in Croatia. ‘Media releases,’ said The Keating’s marketing chief to CNBC, ‘are certainly worth more than actually selling a few packages, which was our goal.’ Chekitan Dev, a professor of strategic marketing at Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration, told American journalists that marketers have a truly great opportunity to capitalize on predictions that happen once in history. Since the media is already full of headlines that fuel fears or simply entertain the public, any company that comes up with something interesting enough (silly or wise, it doesn’t matter) that fits the mentioned theme will end up ‘free’ in the newspapers, from which, marketing experts say, they can gain a lot.

Eat and Drink Consumers, no matter how much they consciously fight against it, still notice brands that fit the atmosphere or occasion. For example, a Halloween study conducted in America showed that brands or products that have orange color in their visuals or packaging first come to consumers’ minds. The reason is that at that time, most shop windows, promotional materials, and media releases are colored in the orange of pumpkins or the black of Halloween costumes. As CNBC states, by that analogy with Halloween, you might find yourself in a Mexican restaurant without even knowing why. Restaurateurs seem to be aware of this, which is why, just like hoteliers, they are organizing special ‘last’ menus that you will eat in your life.

Interestingly, most offer high-calorie dishes so that you can welcome the end of the world with a full stomach, well-fed. And the organizers of Judgment Day, who, admittedly, do not plan to profit from the end of the world since it is a completely free gathering, promise that at the award ceremony ‘there will be drinking, smoking, and eating fat.’ If we set aside the forecast that the end of the world will not happen, but the end of consciousness, the story of Judgment Day is really nothing more than a call for a good time or, if you want something, pure capitalization of ancient tradition. If you haven’t found the time on other days to ‘party’ like there is no tomorrow, restaurateurs will gladly give you the opportunity to do so this Friday – December 21, 2012. And that is the end of the story.