Remember the streaking craze of the 1970s? Streakers made national (and sometimes international) headlines, running naked in front of crowds on college campuses, at baseball games, the Olympics and even the Academy Awards (a classic moment in Oscar history was presenter David Niven’s quick-witted response). Generally they did it for a goof.
Ah, the good old days.
On Saturday, the 21st century version passed through Denver. A passel of naked bicyclists, ostensibly protesting high gas prices, dependence on foreign oil and/or global warming, left Benedict Park at 9:00 PM and took a spin around downtown. The cyclists tipped off the media in advance but didn’t disclose their specific route.
If the cyclists’ goal was to generate a lot of public attention, they failed miserably. There was a little pickup from the local broadcast affiliates, and I’d imagine a little local newspaper coverage (although to save my life I couldn’t find any when I looked).
Check out this YouTube video (although I warn you, it’s pretty boring) and you can get an idea of what went wrong, PR-wise.
For starters:
- They appeared disorganized. They called themselves the Naked Bikers but didn’t take every opportunity to promote themselves by name. They didn’t have a cohesive message of protest.
- Many weren’t really naked. Some wore shorts, backpacks and other accoutrements (some strategically placed, others not really). Now don’t get me wrong – I can only imagine how uncomfortable it would be to ride a bike naked, but if you’re billing yourselves as the Naked Bikers, you’ve got to deliver the goods. Anyone not willing to go the Full Monty should have been “uninvited” to participate.
- They rode in the dark. Why didn’t they ride in broad daylight? During lunch hour? What did they have to hide?!!
- They didn’t seem to employ any guerrilla tactics. There’s so much you can do these days with social media, flash mobs and the like to further your story and your cause.
- They seemed too respectful. Nobody wants real trouble, but isn’t the whole idea of this type of protest and civil disobedience to not worry about getting arrested? Maybe the Naked Bikers weren’t concerned about it, but it doesn’t come off that way.
It’s tough enough these days to break through the clutter. Call it a PR stunt or taking a stand on an issue, the best of them require good strategy and organization, focus, a diversity of tactics and follow-through.
Then again, maybe the Naked Bikers just wanted to get together with like-minded folk and enjoy a leisurely evening ride through Denver.
Nah.
