Volume 2, No. 14. July 26, 2002
Rattling
the press
Cliff’s wood coaster may or may not be snakebitten, but several journalists
thought for a moment they were about to be.
When
sending out The New Mexico Rattler press packet and invitation to the
July 12 Media Day for Cliff’s Amusement Park in Albuquerque, Bill Robinson
included a packet of one dozen rattlesnake eggs. Alongside the coaster's logo,
the packet’s label stated “Caution: Keep in cool place to prevent
hatching. . . ”
“The eggs have been known to hatch while traveling through the mail,” park owner Gary Hays told me on the phone, leading to some consternation mingled with concern over just what this upright amusement park was sending through the U.S. Postal System. Sure enough, when I opened the packet, it unleashed the distinctive sound of a snake rattler, and I unleashed a yelp.
“Everybody
reacts the same way: scared,” Hays said. “We heard how unique and
how frightening it was for them. There would be a little antsiness there when
they see it, but when they open it, it scares them to death.” It works
in part because many media members are not up to stuff on their zoology. Rattlesnakes
give live birth, “but nobody’s ever caught that yet,” Hays said.
The
device is actually a washer suspended from a wire pin with doubled-up rubber
bands. With the rubber bands twisted tight, the contraption is placed inside
the envelope and sealed; when opened the envelope’s sides separate, allowing
the rubber bands to untwine and the twirling washer to rattle against the inside
of the envelope.
Hays
gives Robinson, president and CEO of William H. Robinson, Inc., total credit
for the gag. “Once we decide on the name, that’s when he goes to work,”
Hays said. “I don’t know where he comes up with this stuff.”
In fact, Robinson himself fell victim to the gag from a vendor when he was a buyer at Americana almost 20 years ago. “I came out of my chair,” he said. Remembering its effectiveness, he specifically shopped for rattlesnake eggs when he attended the merchandise show in Las Vegas this year, a fertile venue for the contents of his many Brass Ring-winning press packet offerings. “I looked at rubber snakes, I looked at plush snakes. I got these and each costs a quarter. All I was trying to do was find something that would get media people’s attention. A T-shirt looks nice, but it doesn’t jump out of the package.”
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