As we are only about six weeks into the new year, you’d think it would be difficult to find four interesting public relations stunts, but considering all the scandals we’ve seen so far, and that the awards programs and the Super Bowl have happened or been planned—well, here’s what we found to be some of the biggest PR stunts in 2018 so far.
Musk’s PR stunt (Part A)
The first week of February saw Elon Musk’s SpaceX project launching their Falcon Heavy rocket on its way to Mars. Yesterday, Elon and his SpaceX project took its latest step on a mission to Mars with the launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket. But that wasn’t enough for the tech wizard, they also launched a great PR stunt to go with the actual launch—with the music from David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” Instagram posts were sent with a Tesla Roadster being driven in space by Starman (a mannequin).
And that roadster and Starman really did get launched into space and are now driving in our galaxy. The campaign is visually stunning and attention grabbing.
Musk’s PR stunt (Part B)
Take a step back and read the first sentence of the item above. The actual rocket being launched into space uses boosters on the main rocket to get it into space. In the past, those boosters were just for a one-time use, and the expense of that meant no one has been anywhere near the possibility of providing commercial space travel.
But Elon’s latest launch recovered for another use two of the three boosters. Many have been trying for that outcome, SpaceX pulled it off. Commercial space travel just got a step closer.
Oprah for President
Okay, most of us believe Oprah Winfrey can do just about whatever she likes and turn it into a successful venture. It’s not the first time people have hopefully mentioned her name as a possible presidential candidate. But her acceptance speech at the close of the 2018 Golden Globes left a lot of people hopeful that maybe she was finally preparing to make the leap from supporting politicians to becoming one.
Her comments were uplifting and enlightening, but though she allowed the speculation to continue for a time, she ultimately let the information out that she had no intention of running for public office, no matter what office it might be.
Two Crawfords holding a Pepsi
One of the iconic Super Bowl ads mentioned every year as new ads are contemplated and discussed—Cindy Crawford’s 1992 Pepsi ad. Twenty-five years ago, the supermodel scored big for Pepsi in an ad meant to evoke teenage boy’s fantasies. This year, Pepsi decided to capitalize once again on the Crawford name and appeal.
This time, she didn’t carry the ad, but was a big part of it as she gently ribbed her adult son on how to show the fans what it looks like to guzzle Pepsi for the fans. It was a great PR stunt idea.
And so early in the year, there’s surely more to come.
