How Not to Market

The ICTV show I'm on, Game Over, is currently at Comic Con. The first day was press and limited passes, so the floor was as empty as we're ever going to see it, and it was a good way to get a handle on the different companies who are going to be there over the next few days, and the different products each company offers.

The day started off kind of slow, and resulted in a few hours hanging out in the press room. While we were there, one of the companies, Truth, gave out folders packed with information about an anti-tobacco campaign they've been working on: "Flavor Monsters." The idea for "Flavor Monsters" came from the fact, "Big tobacco isn't allowed to sell flavored cigarettes; yet, they offer over 45 candy flavors in the other tobacco products they sell. Sugary sweet flavor monsters."  The campaign has merch and a highly developed app, which all focuses around the different types of flavored tobacco in the industry. The Flavor Monsters are all designed as monstrous fruit that no one would ever want to cross.

When I finally got to visit the company's booth on the exhibition floor, I was sceptical as to how well Truth would present "Flavor Monsters," on account of even the promotional material they gave press was hard to disect, and was disappointed to see the result. The set-up itself was kind of cool. They had this covered booth that housed different characters from the game. They had a green screen set up that you could run in front of to make yourself part of a movie where you're being chased by the monsters, and several stations set up where you could play the game. However, not once in the entire process was it ever made clear that all of this had a point.
It wasn't until the end when they gave you your free promo t-shit with the fact that spawned the whole campaign that your realized the game was actually a campaign against tobacco use.

What is the point of creating an entire campaign against one of the largest industries in America, if you aren't even going to mention it in one of your largest marketing platforms?