Creative Stunts: Yay or Nay?

www.flickr.com/photos/david-meadows/6183616606 David Meadows

Hmmm... I can't decide whether I love this or only moderately like this.

I think it's important to show your personality, be brave and go for what you want. It's also important not to piss people off in the process.

I've posted before about stunts some creatives have pulled to get attention and eventually get a job (Read Creative Jobhunting)


All in all, she has some balls and got her name out there. There's no such thing as bad publicity, right?

What are you willing to do to get hired? (Granted you have an awesome portfolio of course)

BFG9000 Did Not Hire a Miami Ad School Grad

(from Creativity)

 

Earlier this week, Creativity received what looked like a press release for a new hire at BFG9000. It stated that the agency had hired its "First Miami Ad School Grad," a woman named Felicia Carr. To make such a big deal about a very junior hire seemed to fall right in line with the agency's history of unusual press releases, which have included stunts inolving a town crier and a barbershop singer. So--our bad--we posted the announcement. Turns out, the press release was fake, a maverick move from advertising job-seeker Carr, who wanted to land an interview at what she calls her "dream agency." 

After receiving word from Gerry Graf that the announcement was not true, we immediately pulled the news, filing it under ballsy ideas job seekers do to get noticed by Gerry Graf, and other top creatives. Today, we received an apology from Carr, along with an explanation. "I graduated from Miami Ad School and have been looking for that perfect job over the past few weeks," she says. "I even put my book in at BFG9000, but with no response, I knew I had to get Gerry Graf's attention somehow. I noticed that BFG only hires VCU grads so I thought what better way than position myself as the first Miami Ad School grad to be hired. I know BFG has a sense of humor, so I went ahead writing a press release, creating an e-mail from my father's name like Gerry did for his agency, and sending it out to all the blogs." 

Going into the stunt, Carr knew there were risks. "It was a 50/50 shot to be seen by my favorite agency. I realized the consequences going in, my mentors told me not to even do it, but I knew I'd rather give it a shot than always wonder." After the stunt was over, she tried to make amends. "The following morning, I ordered 35 cupcakes for the entire staff at BFG, 40 finger puppets and an apology letter explaining what I did and asking for an interview." Carr has not heard back from the agency, but in the meantime, she says "I don't think I'll pull another stunt like this. Apparently, BFG9000 is the only place worth ruining my reputation over."