Ivar’s Underwater Billboard Mystery Solved?

[JustSarah]

Looks like the “old” Ivar’s Billboard pulled from underwater was in fact used in a commercial, *and* it appears to have been a real discovery. So I suppose both camps were partially right in their guesses. Just saw the spot during the first Jeopardy commercial break @ approx. 7:40 p.m. Monday, 14 September.

http://ivars.net/index.php?page=happenings_periscope

Anyone else see it? ;-)

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[NorEaster]

No way!!! I watch “jeopardy” everyday! everyday but today of course… I saw them pull that billboard out of the water and I emailed TR about a followup last week and she said her historian was working on it…

thanks for the new info!!! although I can’t decide if I’m bummed by the stunt or if I think it’s neat I saw it happening

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[WSB]

Paul Dorpat told me the “scientists” were still working on it, and that crews were out there again. I asked him point-blank if that meant these were supposed to be real or a stunt.

From both his response and what the PR person sort of said when they finally got back to me, not to mention the online clips (follow SarahScoot’s link and you can watch two clips on Ivar’s site, uploaded to YouTube, I’m looking for the direct URLs now), I still can’t tell. I just may be a grizzled old skeptic after 30+ years in news media but it has too much of a ring of “brilliant mockumentary ad campaign.”

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[WSB]

Here’s the 2-minute clip. Posted last Friday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h99LNR2J9cA

And its home channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/IvarsBillboards

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[JustSarah]

LowmanBeach, I’m right there with you. It seems really staged, but they’re going to great lengths to make it look real. I originally posted this saying that it turns out it was all staged for a commercial, then looked a little further into it and doubted myself, as Ivar’s “historian” was involved – so, I edited my original post to say it was real. Now I’m leaning toward the stunt side again. Either way, it’s pretty great. :-)

I *may* be able to find out more, as I work for a Seattle company that catches and supplies a large amount of the cod Ivar’s sells… but it sounds like they’re doing a good job of “clamming” up on this one.

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[JustSarah]

I e-mailed a coworker who works fairly closely w/ Ivar’s; I asked whether he thought it was real or mockumentary-esque, here’s his response:

“I’d be afraid to ask! The folks at Ivar’s are very clever, and have quite a sense of humor – so I think it could go either way! I haven’t seen the ads but I wouldn’t put anything past them!”

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[sam-c]

there’s an article in the seattle times about this being a hoax/ staged.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010253767_ivars12m.html

I thought we already knew that ?

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[dhg]

I love the stunt. I think it surpasses anything they’ve done in the past. I was at their waterfront restaurant just two nights ago and was looking at the display they’ve put up with pictures of the billboards and “old” documents. They are works of art.

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[JustSarah]

I think some people still believed it, but yes, most strongly suspected it was a hoax. It previously hadn’t officially been confirmed as false, though, so the announcement was “news.”

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[CMC]

I love it. Thanks for sharing. For a moment I was swept away envisioning a world of submarine travel and underwater billboards. Kind of fun.

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[Gina]

There were still people that thought it was real AFTER the billboards went up?

Paul Dorpat’s involvement? Perhaps not a good thing.

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[RAK]

Sounds credible but, think about it.

Submarines never had and still don’t have windows!

But it is a great marketing scheme especially having grown up with Ivar the character.

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[EmmyJane]

I thought it was real until I saw the story this morning. Sigh, I’m so gullible. Not even for a second did I think to question it. Paaathetic! :-)

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