Would Reverse Psychology work?

[mjr]

This may sound like a really lame idea, but it's a bit funny, and I'm wondering if it would really work...it sounds a little like reverse psychology...

I saw an episode of "South Park" once where Cartman bought his own amusement park, and he ran advertisements with the tagline "...and nobody can come! Especially Stan and Kyle!", which made people want to come to his amusement park even more. In the episode, it worked so well that other businesses started doing advertising that way "Our restaurant is open...and nobody can come!"

I wonder if that would work...you know, you put out a CD, and you advertise something like "My CD is available now...and nobody can buy it...especially you!"

I know...it's a lame idea, and it would never work...

 

[Track Rat]

You have to have a religious group come out publicly against you. That's an automatic sales generator.

 

[Cyanide-Depende]

You have to have a religious group come out publicly against you. That's an automatic sales generator.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! My band though about doing this, we're talking about putting on a free show somewhere in the city, advertising the crap out of it, and have a few people we know be religous fanatics that start rallying against the show b4 it starts, then have them get a group of protestors to show up at the show.

I figured if we plastered all the colleges in the area (alot in boston) with an ad for a free show, AND had religous fanatics saying that we shouldnt be allowed to play, the show should be a success. Merch sales would probably beat any other show I've played, or come close to Locobazooka at least.

-C$

 

[smtcharlie]

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! My band though about doing this, we're talking about putting on a free show somewhere in the city, advertising the crap out of it, and have a few people we know be religous fanatics that start rallying against the show b4 it starts, then have them get a group of protestors to show up at the show.

I think to really get the most mileage out of this, you should have the protest a few days or a week before the show. See if you can get on the news and in the papers, then they would be advertising the event for you. That would be totally punk rock.

Or maybe the venue would cancel the show...or the police would get upset...dunno.

I find this thread funny - and although South Park is a goofy example, I think that this does happen in the real world.

How many people really want a Cadillac? Do people want it because the car is good, or do people want it because they can't afford one for most of their life? All their commercials seem to say - "Not rich? Then you can't have a Cadillac."

Or all the rumors of the XBox 360 being in short supply when it came out...I would bet MS started most of that. "Better get an XBox now, cause when they run out, you can't have one!"

The equivalent in the CD world would probably be limited edition runs. "Get this limited edition with these 3 extra awesome songs, becuase once they are gone, you'll never hear these songs again!"

mjr - Maybe you could start a waiting list for your CD. Say that the artwork is hand-crafted and that you can only produce a certain number at a time. Your web site could say, "Check back on our web site every 2 weeks to see if we have your copy ready...and by the way, we'll probably have some new t-shirts for sale in the meantime when you check in with us."

It's a great album, and you can't have one!

Or you could put a quiz on your site, and say something like, "Only people who are knowledgeable about music can buy our new album, the average person just isn't smart enough to appreciate our music. Please take this 10 question quiz, if you pass, you can buy our new album. If you don't pass, you just won't understand our music, and you cannot buy our album. It's very advanced and there's a lot of subtlety to it, we're not going to give our music to the average person anymore."

Anyway, I'm rambling now....