How a Marketer Views a SouthPark Episode

So I started off my weekday doing my normal routine of job-hunting, until I decided to take a break and watch a random episode of SouthPark.

While I sat at my desk with my cold Big Red in my hand with left-over Valentino Pizza, I ended up watching season 10 episode two aka Smug Alert.

Season 10, Episode 2: Smug Alert

The synopsis of this episode is how Kyle's dad, Gerald Broflovski, buys a hybrid car and showcases the vehicle throughout the town of SouthPark. Since he believes he is ahead of the curve in being more green and fuel efficient resulting in him thinking he is better than others (showcasing his smug), Kyle's Dad soon becomes alienated by the locals of the town. He decides to move his family to San Francisco where he aspires to live among the progressors of the new-age liberal city who also drive hybrids and think they are better than others. A marketer would surely conclude this DMA's social class as innovators.



The Broflovski's interacting with new neighbors in San Francisco

 As Stan, Kyle's friend and confidante, finds out about his move he attempts to bring his friend back by getting the town into accepting and driving hybrids. In marketing words: he attempts to change the town's social norms through altering it's socio-cultural influences. He does this by making a song about buying hybrids and promoting it through the towns local radio station, a standard and traditional grassroot publicity tactic.

Random and weird for a person to see: YES. But is it strange for a marketer to see this: NO.

What triggered this thought process of mine was a particular scene where Randy Marsh drives around town with his new hybrid and comes across other locals who drive hybrids. I noticed their acknowledgement and acceptance of each other's vehicle and the fulfillment of being among a higher elite group/social class. Each person driving a hybrid felt accepted among their peers which is an effective marketing tactic if implemented well.

Implementation is the difficult part in this process since the message is extremely viral and vague to measure. What makes a message viral is that consumers can be very irrational and motivated more so by their family-cultural norms, consumer behavior patterns and their surroundings. This is also shown through the SouthPark episode.

Only in a crazy world like SouthPark would a little song work in changing the town's perception and acceptance of hybrid vehicles. However in the real world, multi-million dollars are spent doing this through a trickle effect of what most marketers call the Integrated Marketing Communications plan.

Deemed a curse at times, a marketer will always view their surroundings (even a cartoon show) from a marketing perspective.

Feel free to watch the full link episode: Smug Alert