Fayetteville spots veer Deep South of stupid
If nothing else, The Republik knows how to get folks
talking about Fayetteville, N.C., which, let's face it, is no easy task. When
last we profiled the town's outreach efforts, Statue of Liberty torch-style
flashlights sparked, well, not controversy exactly...but they were cute as
promotional knick-knacks go. Now, spots depicting Fayetteville as
"America's First Sanctuary Community for Soliders" (it's home to a
lot of military personnel) have the local media sizzling like grits on a
griddle, which, living my entire life in the Northeast, is the best I can do to
imbue this post with Southern flavor. In the clip above, an old lady with a walker
carries a guy in fatigues across the street; in the spot below, a fat dude in a wig
pesters an enlisted man making out with a blonde until townsfolk (including a
frogman and cowboy) save the day. The sub-sophomoric videos were reportedly pulled from some venues for being in bad taste. They do go against
the grain, and it's easy to see how some viewers might be offended. Still,
client and agency hail from the heart of Dixie, so a rebel stance should come as no surprise. —Posted by David Gianatasio
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July 15, 2009 in Controversy, Gianatasio, Republik | Permalink |
Comments
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Ummmm...I don't get it. Is this to bring in tourists? Residents? What's the point? Seems like the town has been hornswoggled by an agency needing to get their creative ya-yas out. Wonder what their ROI is for all this pointless jibber jabber.
Posted by: doozie | Jul 15, 2009 4:35:55 PM
I don’t get all the controversy these vids have stirred up. First of all, they’re hilarious. “Way to jump on that grenade men.”
Secondly, they’re not tourism commercials for Joe Public. They’re for young soldiers.
The message is pretty clear to me. Fayetteville wants more of them to live in their town and wants them to know the town will welcome and support them in any way possible. It’s part of the town’s efforts to get troops who’ve been uprooted by Base Realignment and Closure to choose Fayetteville as their new home. They just did it in a very clever, humorous way. Soldiers get the message. Check out their comments on military.com.
Hard to believe but our men and women in the armed services are not always made to feel welcome and appreciated in their communities.
Whatever you think about these ads, you’ve got to love a town that puts it all on the line to be a sanctuary community for the military.
Posted by: tank | Jul 17, 2009 8:57:13 AM
