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Rats still vermin, as far as we're concerned Looks like there is finally a conclusion to the Great Pointed Archer mystery, and frankly, it’s not all that exciting. According to this story in today’s New York Post, PR firm Cohn & Wolfe created the campaign, along with ad agency DiMassimo, to “draw the attention of marketing officers at big corporations,” the premise being that if the two companies could re-hab the rat, they could re-hab just about anything. (Actually, what the rat really needs is a redesign, particularly of the long, hairless tail. A shorter tail covered in soft fur would do wonders.) The effort continued today with a PR stunt: a rally in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park featuring a giant inflated rat. That seems kind of strange—we were walking along the south side of the park just yesterday, and sure enough there was a giant, inflated rat there, but it was part of a protest in front of New York University’s Bobst Library—something, we think, to do with how the school is treating unions. Now that can’t be good for the image of rats. [UPDATE:  We read on Gawker that the point of the rally was to protest the use of the giant, inflated rat in the union protest, if any of you care—which frankly, looks unlikely.] —Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

November 16, 2005 | Permalink

Comments

OK, let me see if I understand: the goal here was to prove that Cohn & Wolfe and DiMassimo could rehabilitate the rat brand.

Did they do it?

Or did they just burn a lot of dollars, have fun showing how creative they were, and achieve no measurable results?

Isn't that the primary complaint corporate types have with advertising and PR firms to begin with?

Here's a humble suggestion from a former corporate decision-maker:

In the future, take the money, time and creativity you spent on that campaign and put it into the pitches you give me. That way I'll know you can do something besides sit around your office and come up with cute ideas that have nothing to do with my balance sheet -- which is obviously too boring for you to be concerned about.

Posted by: Scott Baradell | Nov 17, 2005 9:14:00 AM

Honestly, are you going to give this archer thing any more attention? Seems to me there are some more interesting things that are going on.

Posted by: tw | Nov 17, 2005 10:30:58 AM

Oh c'mon...a rat with a furry tail is called a squirrel

Posted by: RJ | Nov 18, 2005 4:49:20 PM

Hey everyone....bash it all you want, but it seems that people are at least talking (and obviously blogging) about this little stunt campaign. Seems to me that if a PR agency and an ad agency wanted to show they could get people talking about something.....eh....what is this??? The 3rd..4th post on this ad blog alone? I think it worked...stupid as hell..but it worked.

Posted by: Cedric | Nov 23, 2005 6:52:04 PM

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