Today I bring you a summary of the latest bizarre marketing moves or tie-ins:
Give a Hooter
The Burlesque Hall of Fame is teaming up with Keep A Breast Foundation to raise awareness about breast cancer. Well, one can see how this is, as the burlesque organization says, "a match made in heaven."
Now, to raise awareness, the Hall of Fame next month reportedly will host an art exhibit and auction featuring plaster breast molds of "legendary burlesque, pin-up and cheesecake queens." The museums founder, it turns out, died of the disease in 1991. Her name, Jennie Lee, was known as "The Bazoom Girl."
That's Hot
Global warming is hot. But not that hot, I guess. The Blue Thunder Earth Foundation is auctioning off on eBay what it calls "the most important coalition domain names." Really? The most important? They are: GlobalWarmingCoalition.org and GlobalWarmingCoalition.com. Bids have to start at $7,00, and when I last checked, there were no takers. Maybe the price for global warming is inflated.
Don't Eat the Burrito
The town of Naperville, Illinois, is promoting people spending the summer outdoors by hiding 30 Styrofoam burritos in local parks. Each is three feet long. Those who find the fake burritos will win a year's worth of "real" Mexican food from Chipotle.
The Way to a Man's Healthy Heart is Through His Beer
I was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Friday for Carb Day, which included a concert by Kid Rock. I've never seen so much beer in my life, and that's saying something. But most of it was light beer. So people drinking profusely are also thinking about their health!
With that in mind, it's not completely far-fetched that a company has now come out with a light beer being promoted as "heart healthy." The Heart Start Premium Light Beer is being imported from Canada by Nautilus Mineral Waters of America -- wait... Canada? America? I'm confused.
The product is being introduced by Growth Capital Group, which claims the beer lowers cholesterol by adding 1 gram of barley beta glucan and 1 gram of plant sterols per 12-ounce beer. Beverage Marketing USA President Richard Davis says, "We are confident that the Heart Start beer will provide consumers with a truly extraordinary and beneficial brew that can help promote good cardiovascular health."
No word on how the beer actually tastes. But before you skip the treadmill and reach for a heart-healthy life via a cold one, the fine print at the bottom of the press release cautions: "These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease."
Sobering Reality TV News
Continuing on the beer theme, Fox is again pushing the envelope in reality television. A show for its new Fox Reality cable channel is called "Nightclub Confessions," where, "drunken partygoers confess their innermost thoughts inside makeshift confession booths" at LA bars.
The show debuts tomorrow online. Spokesman Bob Boden is quoted as saying that security will intervene "if someone passes out or tries to pee in the booth." Well, that's drawing the line!
Comments? Funny Stories? Email funnybusiness@cnbc.com
