Most of us are probably familiar with the “extreme sports” concept.  X-Games on ESPN has become a major hit with Generation Y.  Snowboarding, skateboarding, motocross, etc.  But, what about Extreme Marketing?  You may have heard of Guerrilla Marketing tactics, where companies use non-traditional techniques to market their products to an unexpecting public.  Some of these Guerrilla tactics have backfired, as in the case of the Cartoon Network’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force incident in Boston.  Although this term is relatively young, coined in a book in 1984, the extreme tactics are much older.

According to the Ideal Bite on January 8, 2008, the founder of Vaseline, Robert Chesebrough ”traveled around NY demo-ing the product by burning his skin with acid, then spreading Vaseline on the injury and showing healed past injuries.”  That was in the late 1800s.  This is truly extreme marketing.  I’m sure that his techniques would not be looked upon any more positively than the Aqua Teen Hunger Force incident. 

I do think it raises a couple of important questions for entrepreneurs.  First, what are you willing to do to get others to believe in your product?  Burning yourself with acid may be a little too extreme, but how can you demonstrate your belief in your product in a meaningful and believable way?  Second, what are some alternatives to traditional marketing that you can utilize to both save money and make more meaningful connections with potential customers?  Thinking outside the box is especially important for small and new businesses.  Our landscape is littered with advertising and marketing.  To get past the “noise” you have to be willing to do something different.  Something extreme.