When General Hospital (GH) promoted some unusual merchandise on their social media channels on Monday, August 16th, they got a vocal fan response — it just wasn’t the response GH was hoping for!
The divisive merchandise in question are standees — cardboard cut-outs approximating the size and likeness of various GH actors and actresses. The advertisement, which showcases standees of Carly Corinthos (Laura Wright), Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Jason Morgan (Steve Burton), promised that fans could “Bring home your favorite Port Charles residents”.
Annoyed GH fans descended on the innocent promotion with tweets and comments that were critical of the standees, as well as the direction of the popular ABC soap.
Yet what made this an unusual act of social media belligerence was how unified everyone’s criticisms were. These standees unintentionally took the temperature of the GH audience, and some viewers are clearly sick about the state of things!
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“This is embarrassing on so many levels,” Twitter user Pam commented. “There is actually a Peter [Peter August, played by Wes Ramsey] one. I hope they’re made of recyclable material.”
“I need to know who is in charge of marketing?!” Twitter user Elle L added. “A perfect example of not understanding your audience.”
Beyond the general consensus that the standees are “creepy” and the promotion itself “cringe-worthy”, the advertisement provoked GH viewers to air their grievances over the soap’s current storylines. Frustrations over Sonny’s narrative in Nixon Falls, and too much focus on legacy characters such as Carly and Jason, were topics of chief concern.
Despite this PR debacle, GH has several reasons to be pleased. Ratings are up and the soap recently took home the award for Outstanding Drama Series at this year’s Daytime Emmys.
Now if only folks would help them clear out some of these pesky standees!
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Ryan Pratt
Ryan is an avid runner, reader, hiker and music collector. When he isn't writing and editing for Fame10 Soaps, he's relishing in the fine company of his two cats, Penny and Gus.