I hope everyone had as good a Thanksgiving as I did!
So. Much. Food.
Totally my favorite holiday. Friends, family, and karaoke for the win!
But there’s a dark side to the joys of tasty turkey goodness. And State Farm, in a moment of brilliance, decided that William Shatner was just the person to warn us all about the dangers of turkey fryers. Who’d have thought that there could be so much drama frying a turkey?
The best PSAs actually make you remember the message they impart. This is one of the best…
I love “the Shat” – he can make anything good. And does, because he has said he would never say “no” to any paying gig.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH for posting this!
I love visiting your site – keep up the great work!
Steve
Common Cents
http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com
Sheesh, when I first saw this post I thought Shat was warning us that the Romulans had entered the neutral zone. I had no idea something even scarier was about to happen… porch fire. I should share with my neighbors.
I love that short film making has gotten inexpensive enough that companies aren’t afraid to spend a little extra dough to try and show some personality. I’m not necessarily buy it, but I’m happy to be entertained.
I think many other people see through this tactic too. But I, for one, am willing to cut a little slack for them at least making an effort. In comparison, the “good hands” people also warned us about the dangers of turkey frying this season. Their approach was quirky in sound but serious in tone; a noticeable difference. When State Farm looks back on this strategy, this video will probably score them some positive sentiment points from their customers.
I hope Bill and his fryer make up some day. I’m sure ‘she’d given him all she’s got’ [insert appropriate Scottish accent here].
Thanks for sharing.
Eat. Fry. Love. A coproduction between the Shat and State Farm Insurance. It’s digital PSA genius. The Washington Post, the New York Times, the Huffington Post, London’s Daily Mail, and Canada’s Globe and Mail are just a few of the mainstream media that covered the PSA as news. Google search delivers up about 200 media outlet links to a posted or printed story. On YouTube, the video has 398,496 views since its release November 14. In the first few frames of the video a twitter hashtag appears, encouraging tips and comments to be tweeted using #ShatnerFryersClub. Since I came late to this turkey fire video party, a full two weeks after the video was posted and three days after Thanksgiving, I can only calculate the hashtag numbers for the last 24 hours when twitter traffic on this video had already started to slow down dramatically. Yet, within the last 24 hours of “slowing” traffic, this hashtag generated 1,354 tweets and retweets. Nice.
This PSA is a perfect example of how you can take a boring, hackneyed message to the public in and effort to inspire safety and create a narrative that is entertaining, compelling, informative, and actually gets you to stop and think, and potentially even change your behavior, which is the whole idea of a PSA. However, we have all seen the “be careful on a ladder when you clean out your gutters” PSA. And we have all seen the “look what happens when you play with firecrackers” PSA. And to be honest, I don’t know that these serious attempts and scare tactics truly make an impact on behavior. It seems they are too earnest, poorly executed, and forgettable.
But this PSA, now this was something different. They bring all the elements of effective digital storytelling and outreach together in one kitschy package and bingo, it’s gold. Lord knows if I ever deep fry a turkey, I will think of the Shat. I will think about the fryer spinning slow motion toward the dump. And I will think about the five safety tips before I lay a finger on that bird.
And yes, I already retweeted #ShatnerFryersClub to make 1,355 tweets in the past 24 hours. Not bad buzz for an old actor and an insurance company.
I still can’t believe William Shatner was born in 1931.
He even has his own Twitter account! And judging by the mistakes made, I think it’s actually him. His tweets are even signed “My Best, Bill”