Let me know what you guys think....any suggestions for any changes? Is this the right angle to get massive media attention? Any advice would be much appreciated! FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SmashMyViper.com Destroying Mint-condition Dodge Viper CENTREVILLE, Va., Jan. xx, 2006 - Four hot chicks, two guys with a dream, a bunch of cameras and one smokin' car: No, it's not that kind of video. It's SmashMyViper.com (http://www.smashmyviper.com), the brainchild of tech geeks Dave Pitlyuk and Jason Gunther--and although it seems crazy, they're serious about letting advertisers destroy Gunther's prized Viper in all sorts of creative ways. But they're not just drilling holes in the car for grins, although SmashMyViper.com viewers and real-life passers-by find it plenty entertaining. Gunther and Pitlyuk hope to open a bar--but to do it right, they estimate they'll need at least half a million dollars. As recent college grads with bills to pay, neither figured on seeing that much cash anytime soon. Gunther did have one thing he could use to raise money: His prized Dodge Viper. He prided himself on working hard and saving the money to buy it himself. But selling it wouldn't raise the kind of money needed to start a bar. So Gunther and Pitlyuk got creative. SmashMyViper.com features a million-pixel grid on the home page and on all photo and video pages. For $1 per pixel, advertisers can purchase 10x10-pixel squares in any quantity. Attached to each advertiser's pixels is a 100x100-pixel hover ad that displays when a site visitor mouses over the pixel ad. That's standard pixel advertising fare. But SmashMyViper.com is anything but standard. For a 10x10-pixel ad, which runs $100, an advertiser can key the Viper. Four 10x10-pixel squares will buy a drill hole. Ten squares lets the advertiser throw any item under 10 pounds at the Viper. Want to take a Louisville Slugger to it? That's 25 squares. And for 50 squares, the sky's the limit--short of pulling the engine or otherwise rendering the Viper immobile. For a little more impact and an extra $100, advertisers can have a SmashMyViper.com girl do their damage. Since the site launch in mid-December, advertisers have snapped up 2,300 pixels. There's still plenty of damage to be done, though: The first hole was just drilled--everything up until then had been key scratches--and 997,000 pixels are still up for grabs. What's the payoff for advertisers? Instead of waiting until they've raised $1,000,000, Gunther, Pitlyuk and the SmashMyViper.com girls damage the Viper as the pixels are purchased. They make damage videos and post photos to the site, all free to viewers, keeping people coming back to see the latest action. And advertisers are seeing hundreds of click-throughs daily, lowering their cost per click with every visit. "We are challenging people to be creative and come up with other ideas for smashing the Viper," said Pitlyuk. "Advertisers have a unique opportunity to get a lot of exposure for their product, and we will consider any proposal." For anyone who's ever been tailgated by some guy in a Viper, SmashMyViper.com is a golden opportunity for a little payback.
Normally a press release is written in the third party, and is written in a dryer news type fashion. This is written more as an ad. You add the personal views, opinions, etc. in the quote. It's also a little long for a press release, this is more like an article that you would link to from the press release. It's not bad, I would edit it a bit though.
Do you think the nature of what we're doing may make the less dryness better? Or do you think that even what it is, it should still follow the same dryer news type fashion? Do you think the angle is ok? Does the headline work? Any suggestions for anything better? Based on how it is, do you guys think it will get picked up a lot?
If your hoping to attract news papers, or other non internet news agencies, you need to make it in a format that they will not have to edit much. this type of agency would need to rewrite this release, which greatly reduces the chance they will pick it up. If your writing hoping to be picked up by internet sites, you can get away with the less formal, however its a bit too long. I would try to keep it under 300 words. At the bottom you will add the news source, and where to find more information. Go into greater detail on the page you direct them to. If writing for the internet you might look at this as more of a teaser. Give them enough information to make them interested, a few key features. make it fast and simple to read, direct them to where to find the details.