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How You Can Help

Do you want to help put a stop to manipulative, underhanded, and deceptive automotive marketing?

There's plenty you can do without even leaving your seat.

Here's what you can do to help:


1. Make parody comics with The SpankMaker.

Make some funny parody comics of the marketers involved in the Spank My Monkey scandal, and send them to the marketers involved in the failed promotion. Just visit The SpankMaker, select a marketer, and enter your desired text. Our SpankMaker software takes care of the rest. Your comic will be automatically created, and you can even mail it to the marketer you've selected.



2. Link to SpankMyMarketer.com

Post a link to SpankMyMarketer.com, either on your website or blog, or in your forum or email signature.



3. Tell The Learning Channel what you think about their guerrilla marketing methods.

Richard Rawlings, the owner of Gas Monkey Garage, was scheduled to appear on episodes of the hotrodding-themed television show Overhaulin', on The Learning Channel. In a publicity campaign that coincided with his upcoming television appearances, promotional photos and video material featuring Rawlings were posted on hotrodding forums. Among the photos was a shot of Richard Rawlings wearing nothing but women's thong underwear imprinted with the slogan "Spank My Monkey". In his promotional video, Rawlings declared himself to be the "Anti-Christ of the Hot Rod World". Hotrodders.com confronted Discovery Communications, the parent company of The Learning Channel, with the Spank My Monkey photograph and the Anti-Christ of the Hot Rod World promotional video. Faced with a public relations disaster from the failed marketing scheme, Discovery was forced to take action. All episodes of Overhaulin' that featured Rawlings were immediately pulled from the air. Shortly thereafter, the Discovery Channel logo disappeared from Gas Monkey Garage's website. An investigation into Discovery's tactics showed that they had a reputation for using guerrilla marketing tactics in web forums. (For more information, see: The Learning Channel.)

Hotrodding television shows are ultimately supported by hotrodders. It's enough of an insult that they are heavily-scripted advertisements poorly disguised as "learning" about hotrodding. They definitely shouldn't be employing sneaky promotional tactics on the net. You can voice your opinion to Discovery by emailing their CEO, or by posting in the official Overhaulin' forums. Here are the contact details:



Home   •   About   •   Spank My Monkey: The Full Story   •   Media   •   Spank My Monkey Photo   •   PowerTV   •   Tenneco   •   Anti-Christ of the Hot Rod World Video   •   Richard Rawlings   •   Corky Coker   •   David Coker   •   SEMA   •   The Learning Channel   •   The Bullrun   •   Dodgy Monkey Media   •   Is that Fake Rust?   •   It Looks Like...   •   Sponsors   •   Comic Gallery   •   The SpankMaker   •   Parody and the Law   •   Legal Action   •   How You Can Help