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Viral marketing gone bad…
By Betsy Richter | 2:23 pmI volunteered last night at my son’s school to help with the last Activity Night (dance, really) of the year. My assignment? Helping sell refreshments: soda, ice cream, chips, granola bars/rice krispie treats and cupcakes.
It wasn’t exactly ice cream weather, so I didn’t expect to sell much – and we didn’t. Surprisingly enough, the chips – from an assortment pack of Doritos, Lays, Fritos, Cheetos, and more – also didn’t sell. On the other hand, soda flew out the door – especially the Sprite, root beer, and orange drink. I also managed to get my fingers sticky several times over serving up cupcakes.
But as the night grew to a close, our volunteer organizer wearied of toting any unused ‘difficult to save for next year’ food home – so she suggested we start giving the cupcakes away.
And we tried, using our best sales techniques – but the first two potential takers just looked at us skeptically and passed on the offer. The next two also weren’t in cupcake mode either. My colleague suggested we have the DJ announce it from the stage – but I wasn’t in the mood for the onslaught of clamorning kids we’d end up with as a result.
“No, I’ll just tell my son to pass the word along,” I replied, thinking that peer-to-peer word of mouth might work better. So I found The Mogul, gave him the message – and within seconds, the trickle of kids increased to a stream, all in search of free food.
I was congratulating myself on my suave viral marketing genius a few minutes later as the cupcakes continued to fly out the door in a steady, yet manageable way – until the organizer came in with a grim face to pull the last remaining cupcake tray off the line, heaving what was left into a nearby trash can.
“They’re throwing cupcakes around in there – so we’re cutting off the cupcakes,” she explained as she grabbed a nearby mop.
Next year? I’ll leave any bright ideas I might have at home when it comes time to volunteer at another middle school function.
Topics: School Whimsy | 1 Comment »
May 28th, 2006 at 3:31 pm
Umm….Mogul?…Did you know about this? Did you start it?
You are grounded for the next two years, and then we’ll see.
Hmph.