Is bad publicity a bad thing?

[cartoonchaos]

Recently, during my napalm assault on the Animation Schools thread, someone visited my blog and left a very negative and very anonymous message. At first I thought about how silly that was, but then it made me think about something else. If it hadn’t been for that thread message, that person wouldn’t have visited my site. Who cares the reason… THEY WENT THERE! I remember when I happily and positively linked all of you guys on my site. You all thanked me (thank you!), but the site itself didn’t yield any response. The NEGATIVE thread GOT the visible response. So… is bad publicity a bad thing?

For example, (using ScatteredLogical as an example) say I create a web show about how breakfast cereal sucks, and ScatteredLogical and I got into a forum scrap about whether breakfast cereal sucks or not. ScatteredLogical would say how the toon is stupid and I would defend it. Forum members would join in, for or against. The argument could get as nasty as the one Jim and I just had. Couldn’t that encourage others to go and see the show… if only to see what the fuss is about? And then they’d tell their friends, and those friends would tell their friends… Then I could honestly take those hits and say to a network, “Hey, my show is popular. Look at all these hits,” and use those to help sell my show.

Here’s a real life example: The Adult Swim show Boondocks aired an episode where Martin Luther King Jr. came back from a coma. MLK gave everybody a dose of the “horrible truth” (and he used the n-word) and provoked a revolution. Civil rights guy Al Sharpton attacked the show, calling for Cartoon Network to never air the episode again and a public apology. It was all over the news. Couldn’t that motivate some people who have NEVER seen that show to tune in… just to see what the fuss was about? Whether they were offended or not… THEY WATCHED IT. That episode was the highest rated show Adult Swim ever had or something like that.

Here’s ANOTHER real life example: South Park recently aired an episode where Cartman and Bart Simpson talked about how they hated Family Guy. The show made a good point about free speech… but it did involve George W, the American flag, Jesus and pooping, That was on the news too. That episode was attacked by Catholic groups, calling Matt and Trey “money grabbers”. But… how many people tuned in to see that episode for all the hype? Whether they were offended or not… THEY WATCHED IT.

So… as cold and manipulative as it sounds… in the business of animation, is bad publicity bad? Isn't getting attention to our work or projects the ultimate goal?

As you think about that, here’s a quote from Guy Kawasaki, one of the guys responsible for the Macintosh computer and now a successful venture capitalist:

“Your goal is to catalyze passion – pro or anti. Don’t be offended if people take issue with what you’ve done; the only result that should offend (and scare) you is lack of interest.”

Sound off.

[skinnylizard]

bad publicity is a bad thing depending on how bad the thing is and what it is that you do.

i wouldnt want to be a pharma company being sued for poisoning, an accountant for embezzeling so on and so forth. the resulting publicity is guranteed to make me poor and ruin my mind.

but in the entertainment world if you can make like your notorious you are golden.

[ScatteredLogical]

Originally Posted by cartoonchaos

ScatteredLogical would say how the toon is stupid

Yah, 'cause that sounds like me. Always shooting from the hip and calling names...

Mind posting a link to this thread if you're going to use it three times without my knowledge to make me look bad in furthering your own causes?

[DSB]

Let's assume for a second that the anonymous poster who left a negative message was just some random individual. You drove a set of unique eyeballs to your site - well done, even though you'll probably never get that particular set of eyeballs again.

Now, let's assume that the unique eyeballs belonged to someone in a position of power who was thinking of using you on a high-profile project. Was using "napalm" to get that one hit a good strategy? We can assume from your description of the post as "very negative" that if this were the case, you just lost an opportunity, not only on this project, but on future projects as well.

Despite the wealth of work going on, animation is a very small community, and it doesn't take long for your reputation to catch up with you. Only you can decide how you wish to draw attention to yourself, but I'd recommend considering ALL the ramifications of how you draw that attention.

[Ken Davis]

Sadly, if it get's something NOTICED, its not "bad" publicity.

Attention IS the goal, ultimately.

Vince McMahon and his WWE, and the many commericals that use a "dumb" sell (amongst other examples) obviously have had quite a bit of success with their bad publicity.

Heck, you can do all the right things, have a sterling rep and outstanding product and SOMEONE somewhere will come along and try to take you down a peg.

My thinking is to use it all to your best advantage.

[sajdera]

Originally Posted by skinnylizard

i wouldnt want to be a pharma company being sued for poisoning

Well... aren't you going to post I link to their website? I want to buy some of their stuff and just see what all the fuss is about for myself.

[phacker]

Liberace once said he "cried all the way to the bank", after receiving a bad review of one of his concerts. And later on he referred to the first statement by saying "remember that bank I cried all the way to, well I bought it". So I'd say from his view point there was no such thing as bad publicity.

Or how about how famous William Hung got from his performance on American Idol. I don't think he had a problem with bad publicity either.

[cartoonchaos]

Originally Posted by DSB

Despite the wealth of work going on, animation is a very small community, and it doesn't take long for your reputation to catch up with you. Only you can decide how you wish to draw attention to yourself, but I'd recommend considering ALL the ramifications of how you draw that attention.

I don't know about that. That "reputation" stuff is kinda funny.

I can immediately think of two animators that have some sort of negative background that are HIGHLY respected in the community and are not only getting work... but have won awards for their work. I can think of some others that have a reputation of creating bad work, but are also working.

I agree with you that animation is a small community. I would even go so far as to say it's a small "family". BUT... in any small family or workplace there are always the few individuals with those types of personalities that are sometimes difficult to work with or be around. We're a sensitive lot, but at the same time, I think we're human enough to say to ourselves "oh, that's just how he is" and turn the other cheek.

I think you have a better chance of getting HIRED if lots of folks can testify that you can positively work well in a team and can deliver gold by deadline. The good vibes theory gets a little gray when you start talking about personality and drama. It goes black when you're promoting something, depending on what it is.

[cartoonchaos]

Originally Posted by ScatteredLogical

Mind posting a link to this thread if you're going to use it three times without my knowledge to make me look bad in furthering your own causes?

Touche, my friend. I'm sorry. I was just using you for sake of argument. But hey, there's no such thing as bad publicity!

[DSB]

Originally Posted by cartoonchaos

I can immediately think of two animators that have some sort of negative background that are HIGHLY respected in the community and are not only getting work... but have won awards for their work.

Are either of those two you? No? Then their experience is not relevant to your situation. Until you are "highly respected in the community," you're just a pain to work with, if that's the image you cultivate.

Originally Posted by cartoonchaos

I can think of some others that have a reputation of creating bad work, but are also working.

Guys creating bad work but who are easy to work with will get a job faster than someone who does brilliant stuff but is a pain in the @ss. You can art-direct bad work into good work. You can't stop someone from being a jerk or a prima dona.

It seems to me you're less interested in hearing thoughts about your initial question than you are in looking for support for your position. So I'm done. You've got my opinion; use it as you see fit.