Truthiness in Advertising

By Becky Ebenkamp

Stephen Colbert won a prestigious Peabody award last week. He wasn't comfortable accepting that honor on his own, however, so he unleashed his mighty fan army to rectify the situation. On the April 3 edition of "The Colbert Report," the pretend pundit directed viewers to www.colbertnation.com to print up "Peabody Award Winning!" labels that they were instructed to stick on any and all bags of Doritos snacks on grocery store shelves (Such as these, pictured, in Louisiana).

When Stephen talks, people listen: Previous successful Colbert come-ons have resulted in mass, reality-blurring edits to a Wikipedia page on elephants, and a Bridge in Hungary being named in his honor. The host often brags about politicians receiving a "Colbert Bump" after appearing on the show, and for a time polled ahead of democratic candidates Chris Dodd and Joe Biden when he threw his hat into the 2008 presidential race last fall.

Frito-Lay's Doritos Spicy Sweet Chili is the "official sponsor" of "The Colbert Report's" primary election coverage, during which the Comedy Central smart-ass makes declarations such as "I am proud to announce the Stephen Colbert's Doritos Spicy Sweet Pennsylvania primary coverage from Chiladelphia, the city of brotherly crunch." Last fall, Doritos sponsored Colbert's presidential run. When he didn't make the South Carolina ballots, Colbert joked that at least his body would "stop producing bright orange waste."

Ebenkamp, Brandweek magazine's West Coast bureau chief, muses on the state of guerrilla/grassroots/experiential marketing here.