The Cult was a great band with a cult-like following (then they got mass appeal). But even they weren't an actual cult.
Contrived cults, contrived buzz... they're all the rage now, you know.
My friend Don, who reads this blog, said over lunch recently that he doesn't believe in "forced" word-of-mouth marketing. I think he's got a point. Trying to seed word of mouth for products that don't have the goods... won't work. Many have tried to "unleash the ideavirus," but there has to be an idea in there for it to make sense.
I can think of no more ridiculous example than the monstrous notion that the SNL so-called "cult classic" video "Lazy Sunday" was being "downloaded all over the web spontaneously" because it was just so frickin' hilarious. That would be like saying that people spontaneously rushed out to see the unfortunate 1995 Frankenmovie, Stuart Smalley Saves His Family, two and three times. Check the financials on those claims!
And so now we have mass-market gum brands being marketed as "cults." And Rickard's Red (Labatt Blue with food coloring) being marketed as a microbrew.
The fact that this won't fool anyone is not the most annoying part of it all. It's that the beer nerd or gum nerd sitting next to you on the barstool or Starbucks couch will explain patiently to you exactly what I told you just now, as if you didn't already know. Next month, he'll probably be under the grip of some word-of-mouth marketing agency, and you'll find yourself drinking Guinness at his suggestion, which you might well have done anyway.
Posted by Andrew Goodman
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