Fur Laura
June 30, 2015
Idea
A viral video that racked up nearly seven million views online has turned out to be a PR stunt orchestrated by a German legal information company. In the video a man can be seen sawing his life’s possessions in half, over what seemed to be a bitter divorce dispute with his soon-to-be-ex-wife. Eagle-eyed viewers soon spotted these same items on eBay – providing compelling reason to believe the video was authentic
What We Like
IW was genuinely taken in by the hoax
Learnings
The bait & switch is an effective way of reaching your audience – however it’s also one of the easiest ways to irk them. If you’re employing this strategy, ensure you’ve got a persuasive motive for people to positively engage at both stages
