The dangers of audience engagement #456769: juggling in custard

Downing Street's e-petitions website caused something of a storm when a government official allegedly (BBC) called its originator a prat. I was reasonably delighted to discover today that amongst the petitions currently in circulation is one calling for the Prime Minister to juggle ice cream while standing on his head. I was far more delighted to discover that a petition for the same to to sing "We're Going To Hang Out The Washing On The Siegfried Line" through a megaphone while standing in a barrel of custard outside Parliament" was rejected on grounds that "it was outside the remit of government", since this fairly clearly implies that the headstand ice cream juggling petition that was accepted is thought to fall within the government's remit.

Chevy discovered when they opened up their ads for a conversation with the public that if the public thinks you're doing something irresponsible or evil they're going to use the opportunity you give them to say so. As Scott Karp tells us, "consumers have this knack for sensing in-authenticity and taking your brand in a direction that you didn’t exactly intend."

(HT: Brendan Cooper of the Friendly Ghost blog.)