“Holy Cow”…He’s covering the Mickey Mantle name with Ted Williams…For some New York Yankee fans and the Mickey Mantle family, that’s akin to turning from an American to a French citizen.
The owner of Mickey Mantle Restaurant claims that Mantle would’ve been so impressed by the Boston Red Sox victory that he just had to do it. (I’ve always been amused by people who claim to know what the deceased would’ve said or done.) How he knows Mantle wouldn’t have been so pissed, that he would’ve needed a rabies shot is beyond me; but you gotta give this guy credit for something. He’s pulled off one of the slickest marketing maneuvers since the guy that sent out women’s panties with his sales letter. (I’ll get to that goodie in a minute.)
Getting a week of free print, radio and TV coverage is nothing to sneeze at, unless of course you end up shooting yourself in the foot to get it. But regardless of the New York Yankee fan’s and the Mantle family’s initial shock, they’ll probably get over it once the World Series is over.
Think about it for a minute though, by throwing a bone to the underground army of Boston Red Sox fans living in NY, he can probably count on them as adoring repeat customers even after the World Series is over for giving them some recognition.
What about the Bomber fans? They’ll probably forget about this once the World Series is over and the name gets changed back. Most likely going back to satisfying a primal need…hunger! So, what’s the cost? I dunno, how much could it cost to cover a sign for ten days? I bet it’s a lot less than all the coverage he got. You just can’t beat free media attention. Anyway...
Oh Yeah…That panty guy? Well, he sent out pairs of women’s panties to his mailing list of potential guitar students with a smartly worded hook in his letter, “if you think it’s cool getting them mailed to you, wait till you get them thrown at you.” BTW…he also hijacked some media attention too, and the mailing? It worked…ya gotta love this marketing stuff.
Rick Contrata
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