Sometimes, too much ain't enough. For three years, when I handled PR for Miracle-Gro, I executed a $100,000 Tomato Contest, seeking a tomato to break the 7 lb 12 oz world record. Despite many valiant tries, there was no winner. Nonetheless, we got the contest more than 100 million impressions in worldwide media. Then the contest fell prey to PR interruptus.
A West Virginia coal miner came incredibly close before his tomato, handled one too many times, got a hole in it, live on Regis, when it was inches away from being weighed for its world record.
Miracle-Gro discontinued the contest, even though it could have become an annual event with an endless stream of colorful hopefuls vying for the prize money. I think of it as PR interruptus, and see many companies abandoning great promotions prematurely.
In this age of demand for instant everything, I maintain that most campaigns aren't given the time they need to register full effectiveness. This week, a US News & World Report story about the author of a book on How to Grow World Record Tomatoes, notes that " Contrary to popular myth (mostly from the fertilizer industry), you don't need chemical fertilizers to grow big veggies." Take that, Miracle-Gro.