As the summer buying-shit season heats up, the cross-promotional spokespersoning frenzy is reaching a boiling point. The newswires are humming with fresh pop partnerships — many of them complicated three-way affairs.
Among them: Night Ranger are teaming up with JetBlue to honor the hit film Rock of Ages and ask "What's your price for flight?"; Purina is delighted to partner with Grammy-nominated country duo Thompson Square to create a community of dog lovers to benefit a charitable organization for military dogs; and Buffets, Inc. — parent of Hometown Buffet — is teaming up with country superstars Montgomery Gentry to raise funds for the Armed Services YMCA.
There are simply too many glorious multi-part PR crossovers to cover, so I'll just bring you a couple of the week's top winners.
'GO WHEREVER THE SUMMER BEAT TAKES YOU WITH NEW PRINGLES® SPEAKER CAN'
Some press releases just throw together a mismatched jumble of cockamamie ideas and non-sequitur spokespersons, but not this one: a perfect marriage of potato chips, summertime acoustics, and celebrity blogging. Pringles nailed this shit.
The Pringles brand, maker of America's favorite snack crisp, has teamed up with Perez Hilton, celerity [sic] blogger and avid music lover, to give consumers another reason to stock up on their favorite snack.
The portable Pringles Speaker fits on top of an empty, traditional-sized Pringles can and attaches to any personal MP3 player or similar music device to create the "Pringles Speaker Can." The acoustics of the empty can intensifies your summer playlist, providing quality sound and bass anywhere, anytime.
"The chip/speaker conjunction makes perfect sense," you may be saying, "but what does this have to do with Perez Hilton?" Well, idiot, just read this statement from Hilton himself:
"During the summer, I love to hike and stay active, and what's better than hanging out in the park with friends and family," says Perez Hilton, the Pringles brand's Official Summer Ambassador. "The Pringles Speaker Can is a perfect way to share my favorite summer songs and stay on track with my favorite up-and-coming musicians."
Bravo. If the Pringles brand asked who I'd pick as their Official Summer Ambassador, I'd absolutely choose Perez Hilton. It's a tough job, but Perez strikes me as a dude whose seriousness about summertime snacking is counterbalanced by a healthy, active lifestyle and a passion for staying abreast of the latest hit music; most important, he's got what it takes to negotiate the treacherous diplomacy between canned chips and warm seasons.
'PITBULL TO VISIT HIS FANS' FAVORITE LOCAL WALMART STORE, POWERED BY ENERGY SHEETS®'
High-integrity Zumbacore sensation Pitbull is the filling of another fully non-absurd promo sandwich: big-box shopping, Latin club anthems, and tongue-dissolvable caffeine strips.
Energy Sheets® joined forces with Walmart and Pitbull to launch a Facebook page contest among Walmart stores to offer customers the chance to win a visit by Mr. Worldwide. The store with the most new "likes" wins a Pitbull appearance in its hometown.
Even though he's got a founding stake in the Energy Sheets® brand, you might be skeptical about Pitbull's enthusiasm. With his jet-setting "Mr. Worldwide" lifestyle, could Pitbull really be excited about some Walmart "likes"? Maybe he'll let us know somehow:
