Great Stunt Gives Sinking Feeling

Great marketing stunts don’t happen that often. They are the marriage of attention-getting wizardry and clear, simple communications. They are like brilliantly executed ads — that don’t have to be paid for.

This week the government of the Maldives pulled a great stunt. The Maldives are a chain of more than one thousand islands  — and 80% of its land is just one meter (about three feet) above sea level. Rising water levels aren’t an academic discussion there.  The government really wants to draw attention to the problem.

Their idea: hold a cabinet meeting UNDERWATER.

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It got the point across and got them noticed. The Maldives hunky president Mohamed Nasheed had this to say in the BBC: “What do we hope to achieve? We hope not to die. I hope I can live in the Maldives and raise my grandchildren here.”

BTW… here’s a great photo of the event.

Of course this week had another event that, authorities at least, are calling a publicity stunt. The “balloon boy” incident shows how it’s not that hard to draw attention… but drawing attention and communicating clearly at the same time, that’s the trick!

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