Editors Note

Oh, Jenny.

I’ve been working in media for more than a decade, but I’ve never seen a reaction to an advertisement quite like the one which escalated from page four in last week’s edition.

The newspaper had only been in shops and in stands for a few hours when the tsunami of enquiries flooded in.

The first phone call I received was from someone named Jenny. But it wasn’t the Jenny.

I hadn’t prepared for this.

I knew about the advertisement; I had read it and approved it for print. I had set aside page four due to the booking request asking for early placement. But, I had not prepared myself for what would happen next.

My phone started ringing and it did not stop. I couldn’t keep up with email requests. It had gone viral on social media and within hours media organisations across Australia had picked it up and wanted to know more. A few hours later, it had gone international. By Friday evening it had made its way to New Zealand, the UK and the USA.

Work was relatively non-existent in our office on Friday, Jenny and Steve mayhem had taken over.

The Highway Pub in Adelaide took the opportunity to apologise to Jenny, on behalf of ‘all the Steves’ on their roadside sign, thanks to their Duty Manager, Steve. The Adelaide Crows Football Club even seized the opportunity, writing “Dear Jenny, got the win for you. Now the whole town knows we’ve won three in a row. From Crows.” After beating North Melbourne.

By Saturday morning, our Sales Manager, Mike McCann, was interviewed on morning shows Sunrise and Today.

The United States of America has very strict copyright laws, so my email was inundated with requests to use our image of page four in their articles and stories. I even had to sign a materials release form giving the Drew Barrymore Show (a talk show in America) permission to use the image in a segment they were planning, based around our page four.

Our free community newspaper was being mentioned again and again across the world.

So, when people ask if the advertisement was genuine or a publicity stunt, it’s a fair question.

It was a booking received through our online booking platform. We don’t know who Jenny is, or even if she used her real surname. The name on the booking wasn’t known to anyone in our office. We don’t know if she’s from Mackay, the Whitsundays or the Isaac, but we assume Mackay since the request was made for the Mackay newspaper. We didn’t charge the credit card used to make the booking.

Why print an ad that we aren’t charging for?

Well, after receiving the booking (close to print deadline), we had already moved the newspaper content around to accommodate the page four request. We thought perhaps, at the least, this advertisement may spark conversation in Mackay and give us an indication as to how well the newspaper is read within the community. If anything, we saw it as an investment into understanding the demographics we reach.

None of us had anticipated the reaction it did get, or how far that reaction would reach.

If anything, it’s reinforced the strength of regional media as a whole.

Not only that, it put Mackay and the Whitsundays on the map in places that usual tourism campaigns would never reach.

While the message on page four wasn’t a positive one, the result for the community was.

We saw people taking pride in the fact that our small town was being talked about across the world. I would love to know the Google statistics on enquiries about Mackay and the Whitsundays over the past week.

So, Jenny.

I hope you got the reaction you were seeking.

I hope that you and Steve have made up, if there is still hope for your relationship, or I hope this has helped to give you the closure you need to move on.

If you ever wish to come forward, we would love to tell your story.

The whole world wants to meet you.

Either way, the team at Mackay and Whitsunday Life wish you both the best.

Amanda

The Highway Pub in Adelaide apologises to Jenny on behalf of ‘All the Steves’

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