EDITORIAL – Some publicity stunts don’t deserve to pay off

In 1999, advertisers at www.half.com convinced the town of Halfway, Ore., to change its name… In 1999, advertisers at www.half.com convinced the town of Halfway, Ore., to change its name to half.com in exchange for $60,000 and 20 new computers. Six years later, pokershare.com is attempting to follow suit.

The Web site, one of hundreds of online poker sites to spring up in recent years, has made offers to several towns around the country in hopes that one will agree to change its name. One such town is Sharer, Ky. Another, just 65 miles from Pittsburgh, is Bluff, Pa. Should they agree to change their name, town residents would receive $100,000 toward job training or educational purposes.

Bluff is a tiny town in a somewhat poor area; spreading over less than half a square mile, it has only one business and doesn’t have its own post office or school.

Many of the town members don’t seem to have even known an offer was made; a reporter from the Post-Gazette caught many of them unaware of the proposal.

Whether or not they will ultimately change their name remains speculation. Though any amount of money would likely be welcome, pokershare.com really should up the ante if they are going to ask a town to sacrifice its identity.

Corporate sponsorship has increased rapidly over the past few years. Stadiums and sports teams, concert venues and musical acts, fashion shows and even towns are essentially being sold to the highest bidder. Though sponsors make many things possible, renaming towns is simply going too far.

A town should be proud of its history and identity. The fact that a town would even consider trading these things for a paltry sum is depressing – really, how much lasting change does $100,000 buy?

Even though pokershare.com seems to be serious about their offer – they have set up stipulations requiring any accepting town to replace road signs, change official letterhead and so on – they benefit even if no town ultimately bites. A handful of newspapers have covered the story, giving the Web site a large quantity of easy publicity.

It’s possible that the company doesn’t even really want a town to change its name, but is just enjoying the profits of the advertising campaign. Seemingly, it’s a win-win situation for pokershare.com – unless, of course, their “any publicity is good publicity” strategy backfires.

Previously a relatively unknown Web site, pokershare.com has gone all in with this bid. If people end up not intrigued but disgusted by their town-buying stunt, they could find themselves out of the game altogether, not one of the most-visited poker Web sites.

Hopefully, poker players across the country will call their bluff.