Behind the Scenes in Ben & Jerry’s Marketing Department
Marketing Guy #1: So we have a completely bland mass-produced product that we call a “milkshake in a bottle.”
Marketing Guy #2: Yet it has none of the characteristics of a milkshake! It’s not frozen, nor is it made with ice cream! Brilliant!
Marketing Guy #1: Now, how can we get this product out to the public?
Marketing Guy #2: I know! Let’s deface an historic building in New York City with huge, tacky banners!
Marketing Guy #1: And give away tiny samples of these crappy milkshakes!
Marketing Guy #2: Yeah! And put shills out on the street to hawk our product!
Marketing Guy #3: Um, guys, I don’t think this is what Ben and Jerry had in mind.
Marketing Guy #1: Hey, who let that hippie in here?
This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006 at 8:48 am and is filed under As Seen On Gawker, Life in NYC. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 22nd, 2006 at 12:51 pm
says:Hilarious! I was sitting at the Kelly Awards a couple months ago listening to a similar conversation between two Palmolive execs:
Exec #1: “So we’re introducing these extra powerful cleaning crystals [or some other equally inane name].”
Exec #2: “Do tell…”
Exec #1: “We just need to figure out how to suspend them in the soap so they’ll float.”
Exec #2: “They really don’t do anything special though, do they?”
Exec #1: “Not a damn thing.”
Joint guffaw ensues…
August 23rd, 2006 at 5:38 pm
says:i flicked a cigarette at one of those banners!
August 23rd, 2006 at 6:31 pm
says:I saw this for the first time this weekend and I had the same reaction. It looks horrible - damn hippies.
August 23rd, 2006 at 8:49 pm
says:Good ole Ben and Jerry’s–further evidence of evil is the old discontinuation of the Dilbert ice cream…
August 23rd, 2006 at 9:10 pm
says:I went to one of their focus groups for the new product. Everyone agreed that the milkshake in a bottle was the most disgusting thing ever and that they should go back to the drawing board.
Apparently they didn’t take our advice.
August 24th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
says:not defending ben + jerry’s at all. I tried the stuff, it tastes just like melted ice cream. BUT, are you guys really hating on a marketing campaign in new york city? where are you from??? have you noticed this type of thing happens quite often around here? and besides, those posters are temporary. get over it, haters.
August 24th, 2006 at 1:41 pm
says:“an historic”? “A” historic will do just fine, and it will actually be the correct word.
August 24th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
says:Anonymous said…
“an historic”? “A” historic will do just fine, and it will actually be the correct word.
Hey, I didn’t say it - my fictitious marketing guy did!
August 24th, 2006 at 3:03 pm
says:I do see and hear “An historic” quite often… Thought it was wrong until I heard Tom Brokaw use it a couple years ago… I assume they’d determine the proper usage before letting him say it on the air.
Anyway, “An” works with some h-words like historic, but not with others: If you told me you were eating an hot dog while riding in an helicopter it might sound a little weird.