P.R. Gone Awry

So this cake ended up causing a big ruckus today and consequently became the lead in my newscast.  One just like it showed up at another news station this morning and prompted an evacuation there. The cake had a wire sticking out of it and a number written on the top. It also came with a strange looking ransom note. The other news station became concerned and called police.

Turns out, it was a press release for the upcoming Batman movie. The theater chain here has been doing all sorts of corny little pranks to drum up attention for the film. This hair-brained scheme nearly got the PR chick arrested. That wire is attached to a cellphone in the cake. When you call the number, the phone in the cake rings, then you are supposed to pull it out along with a press kit about the movie. I can't give the local PR people too much credit for coming up with it, because apparently it's a marketing idea that has been used across the country for the movie. But it's pretty idiotic considering most people are a little paranoid about terrorist attacks these days.

I think if the cake had been delivered to my station, we would have realized it was a press release. In fact, during the commotion, I said to my coworkers, "I bet this ends up being a publicity stunt for Batman." I was right.

When the cake was finally delivered to our station -- we were all giddy with excitement. Here we are gathered around the cake:

Here's a chocolaty covered Sean answering the cellphone:

The PR people ended up getting a slap on the hand and a "you-should-have-known-better" lecture from police. But in the end, I'd say the campaign was pretty successful considering it ended up being the lead in my newscast. Who's the sucker now?