Stealth Marketing

On April 19th The NY Daily News reported that Blackberry had launched a stealth marketing campaign whereby young women would flirt with men at bars to get them to use the new Blackberry model. The women would hesitate at taking a stranger’s number before acquiescing – I never usually do this – and handing over the device so the man could input his digits.

Glossing over what dark and ooky path this takes us down with regard to the kind of society that sets up unwitting bystanders to be disappointed, does this kind of stealth tactic work? If I had been hit-upon by a handsome man I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t remember the kind of phone he handed me, whether he ever called me or not. Well, that’s not exactly true. If it was pink and covered in rhinestones then I would remember but would likely fake-number him.

Maybe this kind of marketing wouldn’t work on me because I’m a woman. Even though I know there are women out there who love gadgets, I can’t see this ever playing out in reverse. But Blackberry must have had confidence that despite being given attention by a beautiful, young woman, men would not only notice but remember what a fabulous phone she had, otherwise they wouldn’t have bothered, right? Maybe not. With much chagrin I admit that the campaign has certainly created a lot of buzz and maybe that was the ultimate goal. Not to get a handful of men in a bar excited about the new Blackberry model, but for us, the offended masses, to sit up and pay attention, and once our indignation abated – which it would – to think “ooh, there’s a new Blackberry?”