Anyone who has studied improvisational comedy is familiar with the “Yes, And…” exercise. Quick plug: Every Peppercommer is familiar with Yes, And… as well as stand-up and all types of improv since we’ve been offering it as part of our training for the past decade.

But, I digress.

The Yes, And… exercise forces participants to listen and improvise on the fly by hearing what’s just been said by a team partner, selecting one word and then continuing the conversation/skit by starting with, “Yes, and….”

I mention the exercise since the brand new Thanksgiving Day campaign from PETA elicited the exact opposite from me. I thought, “Yes, but…”

You can read the details for yourself in the link but, in short, PETA is asking everyone to “Be just like Trump for one day and pardon your Thanksgiving turkey.”

Obviously, the PETA marketers thought the Trump name would break through the clutter and get everyone’s attention. Yes, and….. it sure got mine (but, in the wrong way).

Which is why I’m responding by interjecting, “Yes, but why associate your brand with another brand that is the polar opposite of everything you stand for, beginning with Purpose?

Branding and engaging target audiences in authentic conversations is becoming increasingly more difficult and complex, but I think PETA is doing itself, its purpose and its many advocates a MAJOR disservice by leveraging an antithetical brand to promote their own cause.

I’m really interested in hearing what turkey and Trump lovers alike think of this ploy. So, please, put down your carving knives for one nanosecond and post a comment.

# # #

A brand launch that could only occur in the era of Trump –

There’s fake news, misinformation and disinformation. And then there’s the completely fabricated story of Crowdsourcers Pam and Ed’s upcoming wedding on December 1^st. I’ll let you read the entire chain of events in the Buzzfeed story below, but here’s the gist:

A few weeks ago, an apparently real couple named Pam and Ed posted a crowdsourcing request on Facebook pleading poverty and asking anyone and everyone to help make their wedding dreams come true. Well, guess what? They raised some $30,000 from unsuspecting, good natured fools.

Then Pam suddenly announced that, after much soul searching, the couple had decided to call off the wedding. BUT Pam said the happy couple would spend their newfound $30,000 to fund a spectacular, one-of-a-kind honeymoon. Boy, doesn’t Pam sound special? Oh, and btw, Pam indicated the couple would let everyone know when the wedding would be rescheduled so they could again help crowdfund it. Talk about hubris.

Needless to say, the entire online world went postal and Pam’s sob story/scam became the 14^th most upvoted post of all time on r/ChoosingBeggars (Gee, what an honor). The top 13 must be very special.

Anyway, turns out the entire thing was a hoax perpetrated by a new website called Capturedit.com which describes itself as a “social media drama” site that is now searching for “Groomzilla” stories to dramatize.

So I ask you: In this era of incivility, quid pro quo’s and outright lies, where does a business/marketer draw the line? Ponder these questions:

Is it fair to intentionally trick people to donate $30,000 for a fictitious wedding and then drive the crowd to a frenzy by suggesting the money wouldn’t be returned?
Is that the way you would launch a business?
Have things become so sleazy nowadays that this is considered brilliant marketing and not something that even P.T. Barnum would find nauseating?

I can’t say, but I sure would like to know where Pam and Ed are planning to go for their honeymoon. $30,000 can buy a whole lot of paradise. 😊

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It Looks Like That Viral Story About A Bride Stealing $30,000 In Wedding Donations Was Just A Marketing Stunt

A single screengrab — and a lack of Facebook reactions — were the likely giveaways.

Ellie HallBuzzFeed News Reporter

Last updated on November 6, 2019, at 9:48 a.m. ET

Posted on November 5, 2019, at 8:07 p.m. ET

A viral Facebook post allegedly written by a bride who canceled her $30,000 crowdfunded wedding and refused to return the money to her friends and family appears to have been fake and created as a marketing stunt to drive traffic to a new website focused on ~social media drama~.

On Monday, screenshots of the supposed Facebook post and the reactions from the bride’s family were uploaded to the subreddit r/ChoosingBeggars.

In the screenshots, a bride named “Pam” announced that she and her fiancé “Edward” were canceling their Dec. 1 wedding and not returning the $30,000 in donations they had received from their family and friends.

“Don’t worry, the money you’ve donated will not be spent in vain but rather used towards a honeymoon in the coming months,” Pam wrote. “After we regain financial stability and hold calm in our hearts after a honeymoon we will announce a new wedding date and re open our money fund for any further gifts. Weddings are expensive!”

Pam goes on to say that she’s updating the couple’s “gift fund registry on Amazon” for vacation gifts in case anyone wants to purchase anything for their upcoming trip, and reassures her Facebook friends that the new wedding — for which she is clearly expecting more financial contributions — is going to be “a HIT.”

In a follow-up comment, the original poster shared another screenshot that claimed to be reactions to the post from “Pam.” They’re about what you’d expect.

Although the names of the “commenters” are blurred out, they are identified by their relationship to the bride and groom for context — although not much context is needed, since everybody commenting is really angry.

The post blew up. It is currently the 14th most upvoted post of all time on r/ChoosingBeggars, where it was originally posted. The original poster’s comments have thousands of upvotes.