Hug Marketing?

Earlier this morning I was leafing through the latest Charleston City Paper, and ran across this ad. With an immediacy I found this marketing ploy a little questionable. Who would hug me if I went to this restaurant? The Pig? The Manager? The Cashier? With raised eyebrow, I also wondered about the person who hatched & designed this ad campaign as well...needy?

Questions aside for a second, here's what the ad did achieve: it caused me to look the joint up on the web. But here there were a few problems as well. It seems The City Paper or the expressive person whom planned this ad did not pay particularly close attention to all the little devlish details, such as the website text, which is completely wrong. The correct address is www.thebarbequejoint.com

Sadly, upon finally googling, finding and arriving at the barbeque joint website, I found zero information regarding any free hugs. Hmmmm...what kind of marketing campaign is this anyway? I'm not sure...but I am pretty positive that the pig is behind this in some way.

Going Gaga 2011

Saturday we went Gaga in Charleston! In support of a good cause, The Cosmpoplitan Charlestonian donned its Gaga digs and went on over to the Joe Riley Stadium for a good old fashioned mass dance party. Some of you may ask...why? This past weekend we asked...why not?

Despite the fact that we neither worship Lady Gaga, nor personally know the College of Charleston student, Joe Quinn, creator of the event, we were interested to learn that Gaga Day was started by Quinn on a whim as a social networking event via Facebook. Obviously Quinn has a flare for cultural trends/icons and his Lady Gaga Day fund raiser has simply blown up! While enjoying one of his favorite musical artists, he simultaneously raises contributions for his favorite charities (so enterprising)! So now, Gaga Day, is a yearly thang - and don't we all just want to support a good cause? So, yeah, we went. And here it is. Gaga Day 2011. Joe's charitable cause this year was in support of the Trevor Project, which funds the only crisis and prevention hotline in our nation for gays, lesbian, transgender and youth questioning sexuality. For further information on the Trevor Project, see wikipedia, here.Although we feel Joe Riley stadium was a little impersonal as a cultural event venue, the day, the costumes, and the sheer fun still bubbled over in true Gaga style as the crowd poured onto the baseball field. Charleston Scene captured some of the goings-on in their video click here.Anyway, you may not think there's a whole lot going on in January, but if you want events, just come to Charleston....we've got plenty of causes and events going on right here, and if you like, you can even get your Gaga on...except now you gotta wait til 2012!

Christmas Spirit - Flash Mob

Recently I wrote about the "new thing" in Charleston, the closing of King Street on the Second Sunday of each month. Charleston's infamous, King Street, is open each second Sunday to pedestrian traffic only, and this temporary redirection of auto traffic has been a total hit. As far as shopping, lots of cool deals and specials are there to be found. The experience seems a bit more fulfilling when one does not have to contend with traffic. Best of all - you are able to walk the street without the foul smell of exhaust wafting up your nostrils. Trust me, that IS the best part! People are loving this and a lot of cool things appear to be happening.

I admit, I did not get out this past Sunday, and there is a small part of me that is devastated to have missed the Christmas party "flash mob." But I heard about it, and thankfully the moment was professionally captured in this beautiful video, made for the Charleston Symphony Orchestra whom, pardon the pun, orchestrated the flash mob scene. This little holiday gathering must have been a real treat to anyone that caught it, and was conceived as a "sneak peak" of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra's Holiday Celebration coming this Saturday night, December 18th, Gaillard Auditorium. The show begins at 7:00 p.m.

Merry Christmas from Charleston - enjoy!