Marketing firm delivers goldfish to various media buyers (UPDATE)
UPDATE: The company says the fish were hand delivered, not mailed as originally reported, and none of the fish died en route.
It might be late in the year, but this PR blunder could be among 2011’s most ridiculous.
On Nov. 22, Advantage SA and Advantage Adelaide, Australian firms that promote South Australia, mailed hand delivered a number of goldfish to various media buyers with the following tagline: “Be the big fish in a small pond and come test the water.”
According to a report on News.au.com, 50 of the goldfish were killed during the journey.
One recipient, an Australian marketer, posted a photo a goldfish that had died to a blog. The blogger noted, “Not a good look for Advantage SA, which is trying to promote South Australia as an attractive place to advertise.”
However, the firm says that none of the fish died en route. In a statement, Karen Raffen, the head of Advantage SA, explains:
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today
Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.
