The daytime TV commercial that brought down a mob boss
Ad execs are cheering TV's pervasive reach after a PSA that ran during The View led to the arrest of James "Whitey" Bulger — the focus of a 16-year manhunt
The video: On Wednesday, the FBI found and arrested infamous Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger, after a 16-year manhunt. (How infamous? Jack Nicholson played a character based on Bulger — a suspect in 19 murders — in The Departed). But some have another reason to celebrate the nabbing of Bulger, one of the FBI's 10 Most Wanted: It proves that "TV advertising still works." The capture owes its success to an ad campaign that aired earlier this week in 14 cities during daytime shows like Ellen, The View, and Live with Regis and Kelly. The commercial (watch it below) spotlighted Bulger's longtime girlfriend, Catherine Greig, urging anyone who'd seen her to contact authorities. One tipster alerted the police, and just days later, both Greig and Bolger were in custody. The near-immediate success has the advertising world buzzing. "They spent $50K on media and saved millions of dollars in man hours and resources to solve their business problem," says Harry Chapin, president of Boston ad agency Forge Worldwide. "Perhaps the greatest return on investment of all time."
The reaction: Long live television, says Lisa van der Pool at Boston Business Journal. This "validates the fact that TV is still the most powerful ad medium," despite talk of its dwindling significance with the "rise of media fragmentation and the internet." After "high-profile media types" like Rachel Maddow and Bill O'Reilly sarcastically mocked the campaign on their respective shows, it's the FBI that gets the "last laugh," says Tom Shoop at Government Executive. Next time, O'Reilly "might want to wait until the game is over to do [his] Monday-morning quarterbacking." See the commercial:
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
What is cloud seeding and did it cause Dubai's severe rainfall?
The Explainer The future is flooded
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
American Airlines pilots are warning of a 'significant spike' in safety issues
In the Spotlight The pilot's union listed 'problematic trends' they say are affecting the airline's fleet
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
6 star-spangled presidential libraries to visit
The Week Recommends These institutions provide insight into American leaders
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published