Take This Lollipop

I dare you!

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I had originally written this post to run Monday, on Halloween, but it’s exploding so fast I moved it up so it would still be relevant.

When stuff like this hits the New York Times, and The Financial Times in London, our kids have known about it for days. Some are comparing it to the Blair Witch Project.

It’s brilliant really, and it should give you a sense of the kind of creative minds you need working for your stations.

Here’s how it works: Go to TakeThisLollipop.com and, if you choose, accept the dare.

Then, watch what happens.

For those of you not willing to take the dare, watch this:

The beauty of this is that reactions like that one are further fueling the viral spread of the site.

I could show you what actually happens when you take the dare, but that would spoil the fun.

Couple of points here…

1. The amount of personal information available to almost everyone, at the click of a mouse, is much more frightening than what happens when you take the dare. In fact, that’s part of the point.

What if there was malevolent intent in something this entertaining? It’s seeing your personal information, stuff you thought was private, in this video that is the scary part.

2. Halloween is around the corner, and Americans spent $6 billion celebrating it last year. That’s a huge chunk of money, and clearly Halloween is not just for little kids anymore. What do you do to grab your share of all that cash beyond playing a few special songs Halloween night? Is any of your focus on your adult listeners who enjoy Halloween?

3. Does your station web site or Facebook page ever create anything remotely as entertaining as this idea?

Why not?

I work with several stations that have full digital departments, with big staffs, and actual budgets, but every single one of them spends more time on advertising and “client stuff” than creating compelling, original web site content.

I think they’ve got it backwards. Build it and they will come.

Take this Lollipop proves that once again.