Most of us are probably aware, by now, of the disturbing news that the latest addition to the celebrity-sex-tapes-made-public catalogue features a performance by the actor Dustin Diamond.
Diamond is, of course, best known for portraying squeaky-voiced nerd Screech Powers on the 90s sitcom Saved by the Bell - as well as Saved by the Bell: The College Years and Saved by the Bell: The New Class.
Those of us involved in the Web hosting business might also be aware that as of September 12, Diamond is also the spokesman for Web hosting provider Globat.
The big Screech signing was another in a series of sometimes-surprising, sometimes-confusing marketing moves made under the banner of its "Defying Gravity" marketing project, a program pretty solidly founded in the "no press is bad press" school of thought.
Despite its apparent determination to be "extreme" and "outrageous," Globat has been treading fairly well-worn territory up to this point, going where C I Host and GoldenPalace.com have gone before.
So a sex tape might have been a bit more scandalous than Globat was anticipating when it got in bed with Screech.
Last week, celebrity news site TMZ posted a preview clip of the sex tape, confirming the existence of what many thought might have been a rumor. (The clip itself does not include anything explicit, but it's worth warning you that it's still somehow upsetting.)
Globat said it was surprised by the development in a statement it sent to TMZ.
"We signed Dustin Diamond based on his persona as the recognizable lovable nerd. Through talks with his management, we knew they had something big planned -- but never expected this! We have not seen or received confirmation from Diamond's management of the alleged tape. We are reserving any judgment until further information is available."
Now, if this seems like reading an awful lot into a single point of punctuation, you'll have to forgive me. I am, after all, an editor. But I've seen quite a few tight-lipped denials in my day. And almost none of them included an exclamation mark. Those, in my experience, tend to reside in the marketing copy arsenal.
Globat had already produced ads featuring Diamond that included the phrases "our nerds do it best and go all night long!" and "our nerds have the biggest packages!" (note the punctuation). Of course, I'm not suggesting that a little pointless innuendo is out of the question for Globat. But the content does seem awfully appropriate, given the circumstances.
I'm not accusing Globat of anything in particular, mind you. I'm just saying I wouldn't be all that surprised to discover that Globat had some inkling about the sex tape.
Ultimately, the company is in a pretty good position, publicity-wise. The sex tape tactic has, alarmingly, proven itself a surefire celebrity attention getter, and Globat is sure to come up in conversation, even if it winds up ending the spokesperson relationship with Diamond.
In the end, I hope Globat was as surprised as I was by the sex tape news. It would be cute if the company's first truly outrageous marketing stunt came about by accident.
UPDATE: I just noticed that Globat has a "Dustin Diamond Controversy Update" page up. Nice of them to do. Nothing new yet - just more of the same official statement stuff. However, it might be worth keeping an eye on.
--Chris