Artists need publicity.
It’s not easy to get the media interested, but the combination of art, underwear, conflict, and criminal charges seems to do the trick.
As I was driving down Council Street yesterday, in order to deliver my paper, Coffee News, to Wong’s Chinese Restaurant, I stopped and took a picture of the infamous underwear hanging in front of Clyde Overcash’s gallery (next door to Wong’s).
Originally, they hung on the side wall, in the alley. With all the publicity, he’s moved them to the flagpole in front of the store.
We talked briefly and I was hoping to get a picture of him with the underwear (or maybe even a short video).
But we were interrupted. I got a phone call. He had to go wait on two customers who entered his store.
Is it possible the hanging underwear gave his business a bit of a boost?
Absolutely. Whether it’s calculated or accidental — either way — the underwear stunt is a great example of effective marketing.
“Thinking outside the box” may be a cliché, but it’s a necessity for marketing any business.
When I was working on Coffee Therapy, a TV reporter contacted me, but whatever I said about the film did not seem to be enticing enough to attract a story. Perhaps the film needed more underwear.
I think Clyde is thinking “out of the package”, three pack of course.
Sam,
All I could think of when I first saw the article was the practical joke my brother pulled on our wedding day. He hung an enormous pair of boxers on the sail of Dad’s sailfish that had “Do NOT open till Christmas” written on the fly. Frankly, the whole thing smacked of a practical joke more than anything else. That is where it should have stayed–not ended up being front page news!