Marketing, advertising, bait and switch, books, charles bock, media, publishing, sex...

Audience Seeks Sex, Gets Book Instead

In this competitive publishing environment, you need book promotions that are really HOT. So to hype up Charles Bock's heralded new novel about the underbelly of Las Vegas, "Beautiful Children," his PR team is using fake, barely legal porn! They set up a site with a video (SFW) of a teenage girl auditioning for her first porn shoot—then, just before she gets naked, it redirects to a site for the book! This is truly forward-thinking strategic marketing. Either that, or Charles Bock is just a big perv. [SlinkyFoxVideo.com via AgencySpy]

5:31 PM on Tue Apr 8 2008
By Hamilton Nolan
3,860 views
18 comments

Comments

FitnessMadeSimple at 05:36 PM on 04/08/08
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Nothing inspires me to buy a book like blue balls.
dweeb at 05:38 PM on 04/08/08
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You got dickrolled.
In Other News... at 05:42 PM on 04/08/08
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That's a fine piece of Astley.
Freshrinse at 05:42 PM on 04/08/08
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Awesome!!! Bait and switch from the "Crazy Eddie School of Advertising"
collegecallgirl at 05:42 PM on 04/08/08
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"God, this video turned me on, and now I'm sexually frustrated. To Barnes and Noble for me! Or I could just watch porn. No, no, I'll buy this book."
In Other News... at 05:42 PM on 04/08/08
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@dweeb: See, I knew someone would say it first.
moff at 05:43 PM on 04/08/08
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It's not a bad strategy, but it's weird to me that the book is about an elderly widow who befriends a dog.
TedSez at 06:02 PM on 04/08/08
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So a website offers free sexy photos, then grabs control of your computer and tries to get you to pay for something you don't want?

That's half the porn sites out there. (I hear.)
Cheap Shot at 06:10 PM on 04/08/08
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Very strange and poorly acted. I'm sure he had some good intentions?
AuntPeniston at 06:15 PM on 04/08/08
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I wanted to do naked promotional appearances for my book on early modern architectural drawings, but my publicist wasn't too keen on the idea. She obviously has not come around to this new marketing strategy. I'm firing her now.
dweeb at 06:32 PM on 04/08/08
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@In Other News...: You've got to get up pretty early in the morning to beat my inuendos.
ian spiegelman at 06:44 PM on 04/08/08
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Ug.
Koreanish at 07:14 PM on 04/08/08
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I like the idea, actually.
businesspearl at 11:31 PM on 04/08/08
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"slinky fox video" is onto something
PattyCake at 12:39 AM on 04/09/08
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The joke's on them, because I came at 0:34, closed the browser window and ordered Chinese food.
MoeGolden at 05:12 AM on 04/09/08
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i hope the guy doing the voice of the guy is bock, because it can't be a professional actor. 500 internets for the model/actress' name!
MoeGolden at 05:17 AM on 04/09/08
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@MoeGolden: OK, I read the credits! Dionne Michelle it is.
lordcatalien at 10:56 PM on 05/10/08
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According to this press release, the company that created the campaign is era//404 Creative Group, Inc:
[www.era404.com]

And, if you listen to the radio interviews of author Charles Bock linked on BeautifulChildren.net, you can hear quite clearly that the "interviewer" in the Slinky Fox Video is, indeed, the author.