Boston is just no Fun!

[3113]

The city of Boston takes itself very seriously. Remember that.

New promo campaign angers Boston

BOSTON - Less than a month after highways and bridges were shut down during a bomb scare touched off by an advertising stunt, a new marketing scheme has led angry city officials to shut down a historic site.

A clue in a Dr Pepper promotion suggested a coin that might be worth as much as $1 million was buried in the 347-year-old Granary Burying Ground, the final resting place of John Hancock, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams and other historic figures.

After contestants showed up at the cemetery gates early Tuesday, the city closed it, concerned that it would be damaged by treasure hunters.

"It absolutely is disrespectful," Boston Parks Commissioner Toni Pollak told The Boston Globe. "It's an affront to the people who are buried there, our nation's ancestors."

British candy and soft drink maker Cadbury Schweppes PLC, which makes Dr Pepper, canceled the Boston portion of the 23-city coin hunt promotion on Thursday, acknowledging it had hidden the coin in the downtown graveyard that is visited by thousands of tourists a year. There hadn't been complaints from any other city.

"We agree with the Park Department's decision to lock the gates. We wouldn't do anything to desecrate this cemetery," Cadbury Schweppes spokesman Greg Artkop said.

The company said it would instead award $10,000, the value of the Boston coin, in a random drawing of area residents who had registered for the contest.

Parks officials said the city might seek compensation for the police used to protect the site.

Last month, police bomb squads were sent to investigate blinking signs set around the city for a guerrilla marketing campaign promoting a Cartoon Network show. The network's parent, Turner Broadcasting System, and a marketing firm apologized for the scare, which closed bridges and highways, and paid $2 million in compensation. The two men who installed the signs face criminal charges.

City Council President Maureen E. Feeney said she will convene a hearing next month on the Dr Pepper promotion and on the cartoon stunt.

"It is intolerable that companies should exploit city resources at the expense of public safety and even historic property for a cheap promotion," Feeney said in a statement.

However, Mayor Thomas M. Menino said the city will not ban such unconventional marketing schemes as long as companies tell City Hall what is planned.

The coin in the Dr Pepper campaign was revealed Friday as having been hidden behind the lip of a stone slab covering the entrance to an almost 200-year-old crypt.

The promotion's most valuable coin, redeemable for $1 million, was found by a Houston woman near the Spirit of Confederacy statue in Sam Houston Park, Cadbury Schweppes said Friday.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I wonder if it would be ok to dig up the cemetary if it weren't a contest Was sort of a bad choice on the part of Dr. Pepper though

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Note To Advertizers:

Boston doesn't want you there. Avoid at all costs.

 

[R. Richard]

Note To Advertizers:

Boston doesn't want you there. Avoid at all costs.

Hey, it's just the cemetary. It is maybe the most popular place in Boston. People are dying to get in there.

 

[S-Des]

The city of Boston takes itself very seriously. Remember that.

They do seem like snooty jerks. The way they handled the cartoon network thing was utterly ridiculous. I don't think the way they hid the coin was bad if it was in plain sight, but there is the chance that some goof would have started digging up places that look freshly disturbed. Advertisors are rushing to do "edgier" stuff to attract the public's attention, but they need to be a little careful. At least in Boston.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

The article says people showed up. Did any of them have shovels?

 

[3113]

They do seem like snooty jerks. The way they handled the cartoon network thing was utterly ridiculous. I don't think the way they hid the coin was bad if it was in plain sight, but there is the chance that some goof would have started digging up places that look freshly disturbed.

Oh, I agree. I think Boston's reaction to the hidden coin would seem more reasonable if they hadn't been so extreme in the cartoon network thing. It's certainly understandable for a city to object to a treasure hunt that might do damage to monuments or cemetaries, and it's certainly ill-thought-out for a company to come up with this kind of publicity stunt. I mean, it seems pretty obvious to me that *someone* is going to be an idiot and do some damage.

Still. Boston is getting a reputation for not being a very fun town

 

[S-Des]

Oh, I agree. I think Boston's reaction to the hidden coin would seem more reasonable if they hadn't been so extreme in the cartoon network thing. It's certainly understandable for a city to object to a treasure hunt that might do damage to monuments or cemetaries, and it's certainly ill-thought-out for a company to come up with this kind of publicity stunt. I mean, it seems pretty obvious to me that *someone* is going to be an idiot and do some damage.

Still. Boston is getting a reputation for not being a very fun town

If it wasn't for Jett, they'd be no fun at all.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

It's sorta too bad really. If I were anywhere near Boston, I would have shown up with heavy equipment. When the cops showed up I could have told them I was in the contest

 

[MagicaPractica]

If it wasn't for Jett, they'd be no fun at all.

Just what I was thinking.

One thing not mentioned that might have been of concern to the city though is people knocking over headstones and markers. It does happen, they do break, it is expensive and it does upset relatives of the deceased. Peace.

 

[matriarch]

I'm on Boston's side.

It was a fucking stupid place to bury a coin.....people are greedy enough to ignore the fact that people are buried there, that living people would be very upset - to put it mildly - to arrive to pay their respects to loved ones, to discover some rampant, money hungry stranger digging up graves. The greedy diggers would have no way of knowing that the coin wasn't buried, but simply hidden behind a 200-year old stone.

Cadbury's need a new advertising agency, and the one that came up with this idea should be the ones paying any compensation that might become due.

 

[3113]

It's sorta too bad really. If I were anywhere near Boston, I would have shown up with heavy equipment.

Oh, I like that idea! I can see you riding in on this:

http://classroomclipart.com/images/gallery/Science/Farms/caterpillar-bulldozer-10.jpg

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Yep yep... that' me alright