Clowns outside schools: Other publicity stunts gone wrong in Singapore and abroad

• An education centre’s bid to promote its services using clowns approaching children outside primary schools is the latest in a string of PR gaffes over the years
• PR experts say publicity stunts need to be well thought out and well executed
• The clown stunt, along with other ill-conceived efforts both in Singapore and abroad, fail that test, they add

SINGAPORE — A local education centre on Monday (Sept 20) joined the infamous ranks of publicity stunts that have backfired badly when staff members dressed as clowns approached children outside various primary schools.

The aim was to promote business for the centre, Speech Academy Asia, but the stunt was roundly criticised for being in poor taste and causing alarm. Police are investigating the incident after receiving several reports.

The ill-judged effort quickly caught the attention of concerned parents and schools, as well as the Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin who took to Facebook to slam the move. Speech Academy Asia has since issued a statement of apology.

Public relations (PR) professional Ginny-Ann Oh told TODAY saying that PR stunts need to be well thought out, adding that this was clearly not the case for Speech Academy Asia’s campaign where the children were allegedly offered money by the clowns.

“PR stunts rely on triggering an emotional response and talkability to catch the attention of the public, and bring awareness to a cause,” said Ms Oh, 47, the director of PR firm APRW (previously Asia PR Werkz).

“The timing must be well-executed to ensure that any negative reactions or emotions can be managed before they go viral,” she added.

Ms Oh said parents were on heightened alert over both scams and strangers approaching their children “especially those offering them something”.

“You put the two together and a primal fear is triggered,” said Ms Oh.

TODAY looks back at other recent PR stunts, both in Singapore and overseas, which have tended to disprove the old saying that “any publicity is good publicity”.

‘WILD BEAR’ AT ULU PANDAN

In October 2010, a blurry video appeared online showing what appeared to be a wild bear roaming about a residential neighbourhood and rummaging through a rubbish bin at a bus stop along Ulu Pandan Road.

The video sparked panic among residents living in the area, prompting the police and Singapore Zoo officials to carry out an extensive search of the area.

The “wild bear” turned out to simply be a human dressed in a bear costume as part of an advertising campaign to launch a new brand of shaver from Dutch electronics group, Philips.

Philips drew flak for the incident and promptly apologised for it.

‘PLATOON’ TAKING ORDERS IN RAFFLES PLACE

To promote the second season of Every Singaporean Son in 2013, the National Geographic Channel hired a group of actors dressed in military wear to pose in the middle of Raffles Place. The “platoon” would respond to military commands given from a nearby podium by any member of the public.

While the intention of the stunt was to give members of the public an idea of an army officer’s job, it drew strong criticism for its portrayal of national servicemen as objects of amusement, which disrespected the sacrifices made by those who served.

The National Geographic Channel “apologised unreservedly” for the stunt and indicated that it did not intend to cause any offence to national servicemen.

CALL OF DUTY ‘TERROR ATTACK’ ON SINGAPORE

In 2019, efforts to promote the latest instalment of the Call of Duty game, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, involved tweets from the game’s Twitter account reporting an alleged terror attack in the Marina Bay area.

“BREAKING NEWS: Unconfirmed reports are coming in of an explosion on the North bank of the Singapore Marina,” read the initial tweet, which was then followed up with tweets declaring martial law and a quarantine zone.

The tweets did not include any disclaimers, leading to netizens slamming the game makers for what was seen as a distasteful marketing campaign. Many took issue with the use of an official Twitter account to propagate “fake news” that could dupe users into believing that an attack had happened.

United States game maker Treyarch later apologised.

ACTORS POSING AS GUNMEN AT A UNITED STATES CINEMA

Patrons attending a screening of ‘Iron Man 3’ in Jefferson City, Missouri in the United States in 2013 were alarmed when a group of gun-wielding actors dressed as Marvel agents stormed the theatre.

The stunt was intended to add excitement for cinema goers but backfired miserably with moviegoers calling in the police.

The shocking incident was made all the more troubling as it came less than a year after 12 people were killed at a screening of "Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colorado.

DEAD GOLDFISH

One of the stranger PR misfires was in South Australia in 2011 when Advantage SA, a non-profit outfit promoting the Australian state, sent 55 goldfish to media executives around the country to encourage them to advertise in South Australia.

A number of the fish died before they reached their destination, provoking outrage online.

Needless to say, it was not a successful PR stunt.

Advantage SA chief executive officer Karen Raffen said: "We absolutely apologise, there's nothing really more I can say apart from the fact that we absolutely intended no harm to the fish obviously or to anybody."