Aqua Teen Hunger Force

If you have not heard of ‘Aqua Teen Hunger Force’ then you have been living under a rock. Brandweek had an article that summarized the snafu, complete with overreacting police, lite-brites, and aliens. Wikipedia defines Guerrilla Marketing as a form of undercover marketing best suited for small business designed to resonate on a more personal level with consumers. Why do we need to market undercover? Why are consumers upset when they uncover Guerrilla Marketing?

I believe it is because an unintended consumer was hit by a sniper shot from a Guerrilla Marketer. When a properly executed campaign hits the target consumer the results can be explosive (no pun intended). However, the entire city of Boston was not the intended target that is why we have upset people. As I see it the real issue is properly identifying where and when to best hit your target consumer. If you don’t hit the best group of consumer with your campaigns, like experiences, the consequences could be expensive…to the tune of $1,000,000.00!!!

At the end of the day, I disagree with brandweek’s apparent stance on Guerrilla marketing: “Still, such envelope-pushing tactics are increasingly courting a consumer backlash..” Consuming Marketing is a fact of life that consumers are fine with when the spray of marketing is tastefully done. I even believe that consumers are willing to take in the psychological warfare of Guerrilla tactics that pertain to and could better their life, just look at how many people let Google troll their email and target them with customized ads.