An LG publicity stunt quickly devolved into scenes of chaos and anarchy in Korea last week and 20 people ended up getting injured. Here’s how not to do a PR stunt.
According to a report from The Verge, LG organized a public event in Seoul on Friday to promote its brand new LG G2 smartphone. Under the theme “G in the Clouds” (which they maybe took a bit too literally) LG tried to give away free smartphones to the crowd by attaching redeemable coupons to 100 balloons they planned to release among the attendees. The theory was the balloons would gently descend upon the grateful people
Instead, the crowd came armed with spears and BB guns, ready to blast the balloons out of the sky, in the hopes of landing a free smartphone. They attacked the balloons even before they were airborne, and before they knew it, the whole thing turned into a scene from Braveheart. 20 people ended up getting injured in the chaos.
LG has offered to pay the medical bills of everyone injured in the carnage. But lessons learned. When an old woman comes to your event armed with a spear, things have taken a dangerous turn.
Here’s the video from a Korean news channel:
