A few weeks ago, about 15,000 plastic-wrapped copies of The Hollywood Reporter arrived on desks here. Inside these special copies of the publication, which has a subscriber base of about 70,000, was a “gluten free” nutrition bar — seemingly no big deal, just another of the magazine’s advertiser-related giveaways.
The president of one television studio chomped into it, as did one of his subordinates. A senior publicist at PMK-BNC tossed the bar into a drawer and started eating it a week later for a snack. This reporter did the same thing.
It was dog food.
“Yes, we heard people ate the dog bar thinking it was for humans,” said a clucking Lynne Segall, The Reporter’s publisher. “On the plus side, it was gluten-free.”
The “stunt,” as Ms. Segall called the giveaway, was part of a $45,000 ad purchase by Dog for Dog, a pet food company backed by the comedian Chelsea Handler; the rapper Snoop Dogg, who now prefers to be known as Snoop Lion; and Ryan Kavanaugh, the chief of Relativity Media. For every item bought, Dog for Dog says it donates an item to a needy canine.
The TV executives and power publicist who privately acknowledged chowing down on the blueberry-flavored Dogsbars said they only glanced at the wrapper before taking a bite. (They refused to speak on the record, for the obvious reason.) Only when something didn’t taste quite right did they read the smaller print:
“All Natural. Gluten Free. Snack for Dogs.”
Ms. Segall sold the ad package as part of an issue dedicated mostly to pets (“Hollywood’s A-List Animal Actors: The Perks and Downfalls”). The cover of the issue, however, was given to a serious article titled “How Hollywood Helped Hitler.” Only readers who flipped inside would have noticed the focus on pets.
“People do sometimes eat the bars by mistake and then there’s a moment where they race to check the label,” said Rocky Keever, the founder of Dog for Dog. “But they’re all quality ingredients, like you’d find in your grandmother’s cabinets.”
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/business/media/spit-take-in-hollywood-at-dog-treat-promotion.html?partner=rss&emc=rss