#creepysheep revealed as Alton Towers PR stunt
By Louise Moran on Monday, January 21, 2013
Lovely bit of PR for Alton Towers in today’s Metro.
Led by a clever picture story of a sheep donning a strange swirly symbol and the rather pun-tastic ‘Ewe’ve been framed’ the exclusive scoop reveals #creepysheep was in fact a stunt to name the latest Alton Towers ride – The Smiler.
(Ed: The supposed mystery was also noted here by interfering site owner Rich after noticing a Daily Mail post before the grand unveiling).
The hashtag generated some interest in advance, sparking conspiracy theories about aliens, crop circles and hidden messages as people tried to guess what it could all possibly mean.
The Metro exclusive revealed the PR stunt’s links to Alton Towers’ new ride, putting an end to the speculation and gaining some excellent freesheet coverage for the theme park in the process.
However, I can’t help but think this could have been a bigger story. Perhaps Alton Towers have more tricks up their sleeves, but why limit yourself to one piece of guaranteed coverage when you could pitch a great photo story like this far and wide?
Either way – I can’t WAIT to try out ‘The Smiler’ next time I visit Alton Towers.
Alton Towers also projected the smiley logo all over London landmarks, uploading this ‘Get Corrected’ video yesterday: