Publicity Stunt
A publicity stunt is a staged situation used to catch the attention of the general public, usually through media coverage. The most widely covered publicity stunts are staged by those in the entertainment industry. They can be used as free publicity to promote new films, television shows, music, and talent.
Publicity stunts can be organized professionally or by amateurs. The majority of publicity stunts is created by amateurs and includes trivial situations such as students staging a protest or politicians releasing details or leaking information that will boost their popularity or decrease the popularity of a rival.
More serious amateur publicity stunts include terrorist threats, strikes organized by workers in key industries across the nation, kidnappings, hijackings, murders, or suicides. Many people might contest that events of this serious nature should not be considered "stunts," but to the extent that they are used to raise public awareness or make demands that gain the attention of the general public, they fall under the category of "publicity stunts."
The entertainment industry has professional public relations people who help create scenarios that they believe will gain the public's interest in key people (usually directors, actors, or singers) involved in upcoming productions or releases. Many celebrity relationships are considered publicity stunts whether they are genuine or not.
An example of a recent celebrity-related publicity stunt might be the relationship between Tom Cruise and actress Katie Holmes. Initially believed to be a publicity stunt related to upcoming movies that each had been involved in, their relationship has subsequently resulted in the birth of their daughter and a marriage. We may never know whether the initial relationship was a genuine publicity stunt or not; the end result was the same: the public's attention was focused on the situation at hand.
There are many media covered events that are not publicity stunts. To qualify as a publicity stunt the event must be staged beforehand. An example of a celebrity involved occurrence that cannot be considered a publicity stunt is that of Matthew McConaughey performing CPR on a woman who passed out at a film festival he was attending. In spite of the media attention this situation gained, Matthew McConaughey could not have known beforehand that a woman would need medical assistance that he would be able to provide; therefore the event could not have been staged to gain media attention.
Publicity stunts can be and have been employed by business owners to gain interest in their company or product. It is always a gamble when relying on publicity stunts to increase public awareness and interest though because there is no guarantee as to what the media will say about the event or how the public will respond to the coverage.
Examples of publicity stunts organized by business owners might include the giving away of a large amount of free items all at once; a large prize giveaway; donating a large amount of money to a local charity; or participating in the clean up and improvement of an area park, school, or community center. These are situations that the business owner or public relations employee can alert the local media about ahead of time in order to ensure that there is media coverage of the event.
Publicity stunts often offer great photo opportunities for the people involved as well. If staging a publicity stunt, be prepared that the media will be on hand with cameras so that you can present yourself, your company, and/or your product in the best light possible so that the photo op is not lost.
Public interest is often generated by acts of charity or the prospect of winning a substantial prize. It is important though that the situation in question, especially when involving charities, is viewed as genuine and not just an attention getter or it may actually generate negative publicity in the minds of the viewing public.
