Zune viral marketer arrested at SXSW
By Ryan Block 
posted Mar 14th 2007 8:54PM
posted Mar 14th 2007 8:54PM
Update: Microsoft gave us a ring with the following: "We can confirm that an employee of a marketing agency engaged by Zune was cited for hanging promotional posters at SXSW. We've launched an internal investigation and will cooperate with local authorities and festival organizers in all regards. Zune is committed to lawfully and respectfully promoting its products and services." Ok, so who's the moran / evil genius behind this thing?
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
I guess someone's not invited to the social! zing! Oh man, I crack myself up.
What are you talking about? Everyone who's anyone knows that jail is THE place to be for social interaction! :P
At least they got SOME publicity for the Zune out of it.
What i don't understand is, since when did putting up posters become viral marketing? It wasn't viral marketing till the guy got busted and the story started spreading over the internet.
goddam but we need to change some laws, zune aside.
Oh Snap!
I'm just gonna grab myself a nice bag of Doritos, so when you guys are done bashing the Zune, call me.
They arent executing him? I would have expected that from the reputation of where this happened!
This could have been a set up. As Blaine says, now everyone knows that viral marketing not only cheap, but it can get you big publicity if you get caught doing it.
I'm shocked he wasn't also charged with fake advertising as well as fraud. ;)
I think there will come to a point where people just say "aww, give those Zune a break", obviously that point is not now... yet.
"I should be allowed to glue my poster
I should be allowed to think
And I should be allowed to blurt the merest idea
If by random whim, one occurs to me
If necessary, leave paper stains on the grey utility pole"
I'm conflicted here. I'm not a fan of blunt corporate attempts at viral marketing, but I do support expression as harmless as putting up some posters. If I think I should have the right to do something like that for a band I like, for instance, shouldn't anybody?
So when someone puts up a poser about their lost dog.. that is vandalism?
Is there a commercial interest, advertising agenda, and payrolled party behind a lost dog flier campaign? Doubtful.
"So when someone puts up a poser about their lost dog.. that is vandalism?"
It is if nobody likes the dog's owner.
Here in Charleston South Carolina, it IS vandalism. Sec. 21-86. Defacing public and private property. A few months ago the city had a crackdown which hit the local music scene pretty hard when they started handing out $1000 fines PER OFFENSE, which is every individual flyer. Telephone poles are bare now! BTW, we've had the same Democrat Mayor for almost 30 years... sigh.
well, for those that don't mind posters, give me your address and I'll put up a few thousand zune posters around your neighborhood and sure you'll enjoy that. I would prefer an unbranded world.
About time one of these viral marketers got busted. Too bad they didnt catch any of the people that did the PSP grafiti.
I see what you did there.
That guy must have been just a complete a$$ to the cop - we would normally just warn the guy and tell him to leave with his stuff... I would say people get arrested less than 1% of the time for stuff like that....
surprising it didn't come across as a bomb scare ..
The photos look set up to me. #1 look how close the guy must have been to take a photo of the cop- would the cop allow this? #2 the front wheel of the cop car is very close to the curb in the second photo, in the first, you can't even see the curb. (although there is a bit in the corner that MAY be the curb, the angles appear to be different). #3 This guy doesn't even look like a cop to me- don't they have some sort of uniform? #4 the website source doesn't say much about the story and situation behind the photos.
There was probably more than just one cop car, and the cop could have had some sort of a "police uniform" fleece on because it was cold. "He doesn't even look like a cop to me" is probably the worst argument for calling something a fake that I've ever heard.
ZOMG!
IT'S A BOMB!
QUICK, someone call Boston PD!
Does the sign have herpes? Or make copies of itself? I don't understand.
you make it sound as if its a bad thing that Charleston started cracking down on people defacing property that isnt owned by the vandals... besides you have all these music ecommmunities to post your music up for free and get your name out there... who pays attention to flyers anymore? i know i dont.
A lot of cities do not allow Viral marketing for the reason that the entire city gets covered by posters including private property. Cleveland was a trash bin until they outlawed posting materials on city grounds. These laws are good and help to keep the city looking clean
I was hired to do marketing for the Nokia N-Gage. They wouldn't pay me because they said I didn't take pictures of areas I posted promotional materials. I satsifed the other requirements but becuase I didn't satisfy that I didn't get paid.
I said that posting materials in Cleveland is illegal and I didn't want to take the chance of being arrested or given a ticket. The response from the viral marketing comapny was, "Well we do underground advertising and much of what we do is illegal. If you aren't willing to engage in these activities we will find someone else"
Excuse me, so you have a company being paid by Nokia paying people to engage in illegal activities. Shouldn't that throw up a little red flag. Viral marketing should not be allowed becuase by the letter of the law it is an illegal activity. I wish I had recorded that conversation. I would have went straight to my local disrict attorney and entered a civil lawsuit against Nokia.
Since when is posting posters with the product name and logo considered "viral advertising"? Only thing even almost viral about this is that they were obviously doing it without a permit. Most viral ads seem to be somewhat obscure sometimes to the point where you don't even know what they are for. You know like cologne/perfume ads on TV.
I agree, Twist. The guy was putting posters up. There's a term for that. It's called "marketing." The fact that he did so without permission doesn't make it "viral" -- just dumb.
lol. Wow I guess he should of gotten a permit? I can't believe putting up posters is a punishable offence...
Anyone keeping a running count on estimated Zune sale numbers?
I haven't seen a Microsoft Zune commerical since last December and only a couple them.
And speaking of watch... I can't even remember the last time I've seen a DAP TV advertisement that was for iPod/iTunes or a cell phone. iPod competitor's must realize that you can't just place ads in magazines and the Web to draw attention your product.
Btw... I'm a iPod guy and Mac owner. But "Fair" competition is great for us consumers.
Actually they sold at least 160,000 units by now, according to somewhere on their site. It's true, take a look so yourself.
Since when is putting up a bunch of posters "viral" marketing? Seems like that term's lost all its meaning these days - viral marketing is supposed to be marketing that the masses pick up and do themselves. You know, spreading it like a virus.
Ain't no poster gonna do that.
Poster ads have been around a lot longer than viral marketing...
But "viral" is the new buzzword! No Engadget post would be complete without ten buzzwords!
Wow, a big orange poster with a Zune logo. Brilliant advertising. Wow, now I really want to buy this mediocre overpriced DRM-ridden digital media player even more than the one those sexy dancing silhouettes had!
It's Texas, don't we get to execute him?
Isn't it "moron?"
This is so obviously fake. Notice that the Microsoft PR blurb doesn't say "arrested," it says "cited." This is staged, and it's crap.
Too bad Engadget is propagating this junk.
South By So What.
What if they spread a virus and no one caught it?
Good for APD. Keep that trash out of my city!
First useful thing I've seen them do in quite some time.
If one company can put up as many posters as they want wherever they want, what's to keep everyone else from doing the same thing? I don't want my beautiful Austin ruined by everyone who thinks they can be "progressive" and "hip", and vandalize whatever they feel like vandalizing. I'm already tired of all the crap they call "art" around town...
Besides, all those foreigners from sxsw can leave whenever they feel like it. The extra traffic, and crowding of 6th street during my spring break is really beginning to piss me off. Go home.
I like how the actor getting arrested in the pictures has tattoos and a "hip" hat and haircut. That means he would buy a Zune, get it? Funny joke.
I read an tracking company's (I think it was NPD) report where Zune had 10% marketshare last month. So if the Zune is "floundering", then I guess when you compare the Mac to Windows you will be saying that the Mac sales are "abysmal" or something similar?
Great post CS! I can see Engadet writers are your typical mac user. A stuck up asshole!
That wasnt illegal though, Sony rented the space they advertised on.
Not to get off on a tangent, but whoever wrote the post seems to dislike Zune a lot. Not that he or she is a Apple fanboy but I would have to argue that the Zune is not "floundering."
Maybe it is because I am at college but I am beginning to see more and more people with the Zune.
iPods naturally dominate this market but I wouldn't say Zune is irrevelent at best - it's their first mp3 player.
"I like how the actor getting arrested in the pictures has tattoos and a "hip" hat and haircut. That means he would buy a Zune, get it? Funny joke."
funny, i thought this was the ipod crowd. or is it just soccer moms who buy the ipods?
Thanks for reminding me about that great They Might Be Giants Song...hold on..isn't that considerd viral subliminal posting, subconciously coaxing me to surf over to iTunes and download that TMBG album onto my Zune?
(just kidding, I've an iPod)
http://www.netcartoon.net/naaas/stupid1.jpg
This looks so staged!
All you see is a guy (not in uniform) bending down over some posters in front of a (parked) police car next to a lamppost. Then again with another guy holding his hands together (You can not even be sure he is cuffed) being held by the arm the other side of another police car (which is incidentally not in the same position as in the first shot). This one could also be parked for all I know (at KrispyKreme no less).
It would be more convincing if they had the car door open and were helping the guy in.
Anyway, who happens to be there taking pictures by 'chance' and post them to an electronic website?
Looks awfully fake to me...
Shoulda put it on a bike and roll it all over town, in traffic. Can't touch him for that.
Ever notice how it's always the foot soldiers that go to jail or get killed in action? Never the top dogs like Bill Gates or GWB. Wonder if Bill at least posted his bail (in Zunes)????
given the image they are trying to promote with the zune... I dont think standard advertizing will work... 3 days and orange/purple zune posters all over the web seems a lot more effective. the first shot is a lot more exposure to it than anyone would have given them passing them by on the streets
I am in Austin for SXSW. Every one of those light poles is covered in posters right now.
I watched another guy walking along dropping little 3"x5" postcard ads for a certain club every few feet, that seems much worse to me.
Makes me wonder why this guy got arrested? He must have been a complete idiot and been a prick to the cops.
I agree that it's a poor marketing form, I (and others in town) thought that the fines was a little steep. High School kids were getting fines that would bankrupt them and their families for life...imagine putting up a couple dozen flyers to spread the word about your garage band. We're talking local bands, not national or regional acts, and that kind of advertising had gone on for years with no peep from the city. The city dropped the fines substantially, but the point was driven home. And the law is enforced unevenly (targeting the music scene), because lost dog and garage sale signs are still up all over the place...
i can imagine lost dog signs being allowed cuz its not a form of promotion for a product/service... but i would then agree that it was being enforced unevenly and understand the frustration since they were still allowing garage sale and other personal promotion flyers to be posted all over...
Why is this considered "Viral" marketing? is a friggen sorbet colored poster? the whole point of viral marketing is that the people exposed to it then pass it on... Cartoon Network with having those boxes that were flicking people off.. were funny and id tell my friends about it... a sorbet colored print advertisement isnt likely to make someone say "hey! i just saw a zune poster today"... its just a print advertisement that was getting put upon on public property.. not viral.
It was probably the same moron in charge of the flyer marketing as the person that spells moron with an 'a'.
It's viral if this was a setup and we're now talking about it. Otherwise, just a lame poster.
Fa-fa-fa-fa-faaaaake!
Dude... arrested for putting up posters? And on top of it, hand-cuffed and thrown in a squad car for this? Puh-leeeze.
More like they have you take the posters down, and write you a ticket (possibly for each sign he put up). And if they WERE to arrest you for vandalism or something of that nature, I highly doubt that they would handcuff you for a non-violent marketing "crime."
This is hilarious... I don't know if its Apple who made this up to make it look like Microsoft is lame and nobody even wants their posters anywhere... or if Microsoft did this to look like the Zune is for "cool kids who get arrested for doing crazy stuff... fight the man!" lol (My guess is it's the latter if Microsoft was willing to come out and make a statement confirming the "arrest"...)
Viral marketing is also a lot more subtle than this. If it's done right, you'll go tell your friends about what you encountered, but you won't know you've been pitched to.
What is Zune?
It's SXSW.
I live in Austin, and most of the people who live here hate the circus that is SXSW (and having to pay $180 to see bands we can normally catch for free or like $5 cover any other week of the year.) It's cool for the first year or two you live here, then you realize 90% of the bands there suck and the other 10% of the shows you have to show up 2 hours early or the venue fills up and you don't get in.
The cops go a little looney because they don't want anything to go wrong. SXSW sponsors pay a lot of money to plaster their posters all over town, so they're just protecting those interests.
I was just down there on 6th street the other day. All of the lightpoles are covered in plastic wrap because parks and recreation knew they'd be covered in posters, so why bother aresting this guy?
they must be mad because the light pole still has plastic wrap around it, I must have been brand new, IF THIS WAS EVEN REAL which i highly doubt it is!
Boy could microsoft be ANY dumber? No wonder Mac use is on the rise!
I don't see why this would be viral marketing?
Moran? Did a "moran" write this?
noun: a person of sub-moronic* intelligence; one so moronic** as not to know the proper spelling of the word "moron" - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moran
Good to see my tax money is put to good use... putting the zune fans in jail?
...I guess they figured there's no such thing as bad publicity. Maybe they were wrong? ¬_¬
if they let one company put up posters, everyone will want to.
and the 10% they spoke of wasnt total marketshare. that was speaking of 30gb hd marketshare.
there are lots of 20gb,40gb,60gb,80gb hd players out there.
i think i was more like 1% total since the release.
Since when is hanging posters on telephone poles "viral"??
Lame publicity stunt... I'd rather get a Creative Zen Vision M than a turd-brown Zune