There’s no such thing as bad publicity … except when there is

There’s a school of thought that says any publicity is good publicity. That’s the kind of thinking that can backfire, as one marine industry company learned recently.

Boatbound, one of a wave of peer-to-peer boat rental companies, apparently figured they could capitalize on their hometown San Francisco Giants’ World Series appearance. The company issued a press release that was picked up by several media outlets (not us, mind you!) saying the company had purchased the naming rights to McCovey Cove and changed it to Boatbound Bay. (McCovey Cove is the bay just outside the Giants’ home, AT&T Park, named after Hall of Fame slugger Willie McCovey)

It was, of course, a publicity stunt – one that quickly backfired. The Giants issued angry tweets and statements that the cove had not been sold and Boatbound had to quickly backtrack and apologize.

The company has capitalized on news stories in the past to grab some positive attention, such as when it partnered with Uber ahead of a potential mass transit strike in the Bay Area.

In this case, I suppose if the point was to get attention, mission accomplished, but the bad will generated by angry Giants fans outweighs almost any benefit.