Poor Snapple.
In a badly-orchestrated, grandiose PR effort yesterday, New York's Union Square was literally flooded with "the best stuff on earth" -- only the really cold, gooey version.
The company had attempted to top the Guiness World Record for the largest popsicle ever (the question WHY? comes to mind) to promote a new icy dessert product, but seems to have "misunderestimated" the sweltering NY weather. The popsicle melted before it could be released from its casing, producing a scene that looked like something out of "Nightmare on Elm Street." (Remember Johnny Depp in the bed-blender?)
In addition to requiring several fire hoses to clean up the sticky mess, apparently one woman tripped, severely spraining her ankle, a bike messenger was injured, and several other minor injuries were reported.
And not only did they not break the record, Guinness was left with a bit of a negative impression: "What was unsettling was that the fluid just kept coming," Stuart Claxton of the Guinness Book of World Records told the Daily News. "It was quite a lot of fluid. On a hot day like this, you have to move fast."
Images are less exciting than the disaster scene descriptions via newspaper and local radio, but the shots of the event team's face pretty much say it all.
Not surprisingly, Snapple does *not* intend to try this stunt again.
In another bad PR move, Snapple has posted NOTHING on their site about the incident, and seems to have removed press releases dated June 17 that announce the event. Parent company Cadbury Schweppes is also mum.
Note to Snapple: Next time, just give out free stuff. People like that wayyy better than being doused with frozen goo.
In more positive Snapple news, the company has sealed a deal with NYC to be the exclusive provider of certain beverages to muncipal vending machines for 5 years. They're also opening the Snapple Theatre Complex in NYC, date TBA.
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