Electronic Arts hired 20 people for the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles to stand outside the trade show and protest their new video game Dante’s Inferno.”

EA spokeswoman Holly Rockwood says the stunt was arranged by a viral marketing agency hired by EA. However, the “protest” was still covered by local newspapers and The LA Times.

The new game, Dante’s Inferno is loosely based on Dante Aligheri‘s poem “Divine Comedy,” The fake protesters were “upset” about the game because it glorified eternal damnation. The protesters passed out pamphlets and held up picket signs saying “Hell is not a Video Game” and “Trade in Your PlayStation for a PrayStation.”

Some critics have been saying this might not have been the best move for EA. Why would you build negative buzz about your own product?

We think it was a perfect thing for EA. As people were walking into the trade show, they already had interest in the game. Not only that, they received free publicity in local newspapers, which then made it’s way onto the internet. And now that the coverage is on the internet, their clelver stunt will reach much farther than a trade show in LA.

You could also applaud EA for creating fake negative buzz themselves so nobody else can. Now that it’s already been done, no one would take real protesters seriously. Way to dodge that bullet, EA!

Gillette has been building buzz the last month with how-to online
videos. The videos show men how to shave everywhere except their face,
also known as “manscaping.”

There has been tons buzz around the videos. By last Friday, Gillette’s Youtube site had more than 300,000 views in about a month.

The videos are very clever and humorous, which is different from the
approach they usually take in their advertising and marketing. Each
light-hearted video shows a cartoon demonstrating how to manscape
different areas of the body.

Before the videos were posted, Gillette tested them on both men and
women with little negative feedback. Through their research, Gillette
also found that one-third of men shave hair from their body other than
their faces.

“Our goal was to engage guys in a dialogue on the whys and how-to’s, and to do it comfortably and reassure them in a funny and entertaining way,” said Tim Williams a Gillette marketing official.

I think Gillette did a really great job with these videos. Not only are
they funny and perfect to reach 20-something men, but there is actually
research to back their approach.

Although we can’t leave without saying that they are ripping off the Phillips Norelco Shave Everywhere site from a few years ago.