YOLANDA BE COOL / YOLANDA RECALL
22 October 2012
Australian band recalls hit song in smart PR stunt to launch new album
- Media Type
- Branded Entertainment
- Music Video
- Online
- Social Media
- Viral
- Product Category
- Music
- Country
- Australia
- Source
- News
- Agency
- Gotham / New York
- Tags
- music
- launch
- PR
- PR stunt
Australian dance outfit Yolanda Be Cool has taken a novel approach to promoting its newest album, Ladies and Mentalmen by issuing a product recall of their hugely popular We No Speak Americano.
Created by New York agency Gotham, Yolanda Recall centres around a parody press conference posted on YouTube, in which a suited lawyer explains to gathered journalists that the song, which became a number one hit in 16 countries in 2010 and remains in the charts, will be recalled. 'The beats,' he proclaims, 'are no longer fresh.'
The band then soberly display 'inappropriate' uses of their song with a series of funny videos showing a man in latex slapping himself to the track, an Asian TV show backed by the tune, and a cat being made to dance.
The band has removed the song from iTunes Australia, and links to it from all its social media channels, as well as launching a campaign to have the song removed from DJ boxes and radio playlists around the world. The band has also updated its Wikipedia entry with news of the recall, and sponsor Red Bull has similarly removed the song from its site.
The recall video leads interested viewers to the YolandaRecall.com website, where, after Liking the page, fans can download a free version of new single Before Midnight and find out more about the new album's launch.
Contagious Insight /
A stand-out, cost effective creative idea from the band here, with the plainly absurd stunt of recalling a song being sure to attract attention across the music and mainstream press.
That's sure to raise the profile of their new song further than traditional advertising might. Songs have a traditional shelf life that dies off with time, but using that song as a jump start for their next album is inspired. People looking for the old track, after all, are directed to the site to hear the new track, pushing people to download that and raise interest in the new album.
Of course banning the song is futile, but there's longevity to this if the band wants to sustain engagement in the longer term with more pronouncements about trying to enforce their ban, perhaps, or announcements of their success when it does eventually drop out of the charts.
There's a long-term play for the band too, distancing itself from its 'one-hit wonder' status, positioning YBC as a credible act and gaining a little sympathy from those people who also think 'We No Speak Americano' has become overplayed.
By using existing owned assets like their Facebook page and Wikipedia, the band also makes sure this simple stunt is spread far and wide across multiple touch points where people might look for the song, but with almost no cost.
This story originally appeared on Contagious Feed. Contagious Feed is our bespoke trends, inspiration, insight and analysis service, providing daily innovative marketing intelligence across a comprehensive range of sectors to brands and agencies across the world. For more information about Contagious Feed contact sales@contagiousmagazine.com
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