Publicity stunts are generally regarded as planned events made to gain exposure and get public’
s attention. Today’s media publicity stunts are most often made by big companies,
movie stars, and for launching new product(s). Publicity stunts can be either professionally arranged by public relations personnel, or set up by amateurs. They can also make or
break someone’s career/product/cause, all depending on the way they are promoted and the type of publicity stunt. Based on the examples in recent
news I will explain why entertainment/media organizations use publicity stunts and what factors cause them to succeed or fail.
Media interest is the goal of most publicity stunt planners. It is the easiest, fastest, and cheapest way to obtain popularity. Hence, it becomes main objective of public relations to catch media’s attention. An example of this would be an organization that schedules a press conference to attain a positive
buzz and awareness for its new product. Public relations take care of setting up publicity stunts for
everything from movie star conferences, auto shows, upcoming movies, to gala awards shows. There are also less glamorous ways to situate a publicity stunt – articles in entertainment magazines about fake
relationship troubles, marriages, miscarriages, divorces, fictitious sex scandals, and court trials are most often placed in order to promote actors popularity, upcoming
movie, or show(s).These sorts of stunts are set up by
actor’s managers, publicity advisors, and actors themselves. It is of no coincidence that “private” family photos of actresses, sex video tapes, and major
scandalous behaviors arise near the release dates of most
actor/singer/influential figure’s release dates for their merchandise/cd/movies/shows etc.
