Monday, June 25, 2007

TaB energy falls flat


The pitch:
Last month, I received this interesting pitch from a PR agency:
“...We’re delighted to tell you about an exclusive opportunity.

We would love to send you a package to host a girls-party on us! Your Fuel to be Fabulous party would contain everything you’d need to throw a little get-together for your girls (it can be as swish or as casual as you like). The kit contains fun swag, games, cute napkins, straws etc and TaB Energy Drink. There’s also a pre-loaded credit card for you to pick up other stuff you might need.

All you do is round up your friends, host a little soiree then register online to let us know how it went (it’s a private site, not at all publicly accessible – you can invite your friends on to check out party pics you post, or post comments…..etc).

The real icing on the cake? Host your soiree and register online before August 27, 2007 you’ll be entered to win a trip for two to New York City (flight, hotel, spa treatments and spending cash)!

To participate, just email me back with your full contact information including shipping address, phone and email. If you have questions, let me know!”
The party:
I was planning a real-life gathering for some of my After a Fashion friends at Cozy Nails, I decided to accept the offer and host a TaB energy Fuel to be Fabulous party. Only one problem, the package never arrived.

A few weeks later, the gals (or “fabulous girls” as TaB Energy calls us) felt it was time for another manicure-pedicure meet-up at Cozy Nails. I wrote to my contact at the PR agency. This time, the package arrived on time.

After Cozy Nails, we headed off to SoHo Bistro for a quick bite on the patio. We set up the perfect party table with all of our goodies from TaB Enegy. Everything was so TaB Energy pink – even our waitress! Jenny loved TaB energy and scored all the leftovers and the coupons for 12 cans at 25 cents each. Watch the video interview:

Despite an onerous amount of instructions, I still don’t know how to access the private website where I’m supposed to upload our photos etc. I also don’t know how to activate the pre-loaded Amex card I received for $25 (I’m donating it on behalf of the group to the United Way, that’s a whole other story.)

As for TaB Engery, the group reaction was mixed. As for me, I get enough of a buzz from drinks with the usual amount of caffeine so I’ll pass on the 80mg in every can of TaB Energy. After a taste test, I can understand why women are mixing it with vodka but I’m not advocating that either. ; )

Have you tried TaB Energy? What did you think?

A big shout out to Kathryn Lagden for providing her fine photography and videography talents.

Thanks to all the participants:
Katharine Came, June Li, Michelle Tampoya, Jenny Bullough, Kathryn Lagden, and Kate Trgovac and Joy Boyson, who joined us the first time around.

Stay tuned for my follow-up post on TaB Energy Make-out-mints.

Update (Nov. 27, 2007): I was asked to remove part of the pitch letter and obliged.

Technorati tags: blogger relations, Cozy Nails, Jenny Bullough, June Li, Katharine Came, Kathryn Lagden, Mentos and Diet Coke, Michelle Tampoya, Moxie Promotions, PR, SoHo Bistro, TaB Energy, United Way, Veritas Communications, YouTube

6 comments:

  1. To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of Tab Energy, but I'm biased. I've been a Tab (normal, not energy) drinker for over ten years, and I used to get crates of the drink shipped to Toronto from NYC.

    Ever since they launched Tab Energy, they stopped shipping the regular Tab drink. Which, needless to say, was disappointing. Of course, I still think the Tab Energy drink tastes pretty good, but it's just not the normal Tab.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Definitely not the original TaB! I remember it as the precursor to Diet Coke - my fav pop.

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  3. Anonymous10:06 am

    From what I have seen, the promotional accessories that came with the drinks look like they are targeting little girls. They would not convince me with that. For the product itself I never tasted it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I couldn't agree with you more.
    With their "TaB Engergy make-out mints" They are also telling those girls how to get a boy into bed and then providing wallet cards including a phone number for the women's assault line. How inappropriate or what?

    The two companies working on the promo haven't done any follow-up with me either - and it's been a few months already.

    (BTW, I was going to write a separate post about the mints but I think this comment says it all.)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous6:51 am

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    ReplyDelete
  6. Tab energy - I have never heard of it before, actually... And it seems these guys just dumped you.

    ReplyDelete

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