I was sitting around one night, looking at the stars, thinking to myself "what would be the best way to promote myself?" Then it hit me! Why don't I get myself a lawnchair and $10,000 worth of helium, build a sign with an image of me on it, then launch myself into the sky! Seems like a pretty solid plan.
Pardon?
What?!?
It's been done already?!?
Dang.
OK, time for me to rant. Admittedly, I struggled with wanting to write this blog, simply because I didn't want to give this guy any more attention than he had already received. But ultimately I find myself writing this (and you find yourself reading this), as maybe I can shed some light on my observations about a story like this.
I feel like I've already gone through three different emotions with this story already:
#1. Anger
I honestly can't believe this was made out to be such a BIG story. It's a guy doing a publicity stunt, so he wants publicity and we're giving it to him. Reporters are tripping over themselves trying to get an interview with him. That's what he WANTS! His story is going to ultimately trump other, more important stories of the day. There are massive wildfires burning out of control in Western Canada, there's quite the economic crisis in Greece which is having an impact across the world, and oil prices have fallen again big-time. But those three stories are going to be buried behind this guy. And there are reporters spending their entire DAY on this. He says he "has no regrets." Of course he doesn't. It's a PUBLICITY STUNT! This is what he wanted.
#2. Baffled
I don't know if baffled is an emotion but I'm going with it. Here's the thing that seems to have been lost in all of this: it's not just his life he's playing with. Imagine if he had flown into the path of an oncoming plane. Or how about his contraption malfunctions and he falls, hitting someone. Or one report I saw alluded to him wanting to get into the Stampede Grounds where the rodeo or chuckwagons were going on. Imagine him landing on the track and causing a massive pileup as horses tried to stop. He's been given a lot of publicity for someone who didn't seem to have public safety at the top of his mind.
#3. Frustration
Here's the kicker: you all LOVE this "story." Judging by the number of shares, likes, retweets and the like, you love every single minute of this. This highlights the ongoing battle that I have in my mind every single day. Do you talk about the stories that everyone is talking about? Or do you try to spend some time to work on stories that will get people talking? Because I've seen it. Important stories that people should be outraged about, or disappointed about, or maybe even impressed by. But they get one Facebook like and a couple of retweets. Then some ridiculous story that has no bearing on anything in the world goes viral. And here's where things get sticky. We're now all in a rat race to make sure we're on top of those viral stories. Because if we're not talking about it, the assumption is that the consumer is going elsewhere to find it. Well hello there, slippery slope! Nice to see you again!
All of this leaves me with one very clear message: if you (or anyone else you know) want to get some free publicity, all you need is a stunt. Don't worry, it'll be all over the news.
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