Hasta La Creative!

Mullen says one of its staffers, Bob Pirrmann, lost his wedding ring in a four-story, 200,000-gallon ocean tank during a public dive in July at the New England Aquarium. The ring was recovered a few days ago, and now the tear-jerk/feel-good local-media barrage is on. Dare I say, the whole story sounds a bit … fishy? (I dare. And I’m sorry.) The tale has generated lots of free publicity for the aquarium, a Mullen client. Pirrmann’s dive was itself part of a marketing campaign he helped create. So, in a sense, there was gold in that tank whether a ring was lost there or not. Look, if you’re going to make up a story about where you lost your wedding ring, “in the giant ocean tank at the aquarium” is a fib of Homer Simpson-esque proportions. Stick to the tried and true like, “I was mugged,” “The dog ate it” or “It slipped off in a singles bar.” The wife will love the last one in particular, if you say it kinda off-handed and sarcastic. What? It could work.

—Posted by David Gianatasio