Path To Enlightenment Involves Cheap Publicity Stunts
from the interesting... dept
In a grand publicity stunt, I’m sure the folks at Salesforce.com probably got what they expected out of their announcement a few weeks back that they were using the Dalai Lama in their ads. It didn’t take long (though, longer than expected) for some followers of the Tibetan spiritual leader to lose their cool. The American Himalayan Foundation which had accepted a donation from Salesforce.com sent the $75,000 check back and rescinded the sale of 500 tickets to the company to see the Dalai Lama next month. They also expressed some pretty serious anger at the company for using the Dalai Lama in their marketing campaign. In response, Salesforce.com has pulled the ads and apologized but has received much more publicity than a normal campaign at next to no cost. Maybe the path to enlightenment involves cheap publicity stunts?
Comments on “Path To Enlightenment Involves Cheap Publicity Stunts”
Apple Did it the Right Way
I recall Apple using the Dalai Lama in their “Think Different” ads (except in Hong Kong). So the issue isn’t the commercial use of his image (which as a “celebrity”, he owns), but how it is used and getting the proper permission before hand.