Santa gets busted and a campaign succeeds

I’ve worked on a number of marketing campaigns for both large and small businesses. One of the most memorable involved an entrepreneur who owned a clothing shop in South Carolina. Thomas Moseley decided he’d had enough of the state’s Blue Laws, regulations prohibiting Sunday sales of alcohol, tools, and hundreds of other items including clothing. Moseley wanted to open his store on Sundays.

Many had tried to have the laws overturned—merchants’ associations, the hospitality industry, the alcohol industry and others. No S.C. legislator wanted to fight churches that supported these ancient laws. So Moseley gathered the creative types he knew—there were many because he gave Great Gatsby parties and he was very generous. We were all sitting around, spinning ideas. Someone asked, “What happens if you just open your store anyway?”

Almost at once, because this was Christmas shopping season, a collective light bulb flashed. We came up with a script. Moseley would dress up in a Santa suit and open the store. A tip would be phoned in to the city and the police would act. When they arrived, they would arrest Santa. And when the media came, he’d give them an earful.

The next weekend, major networks carried video footage and front page images of Santa being guided into the back of a police car. Children were horrified. Parents were outraged. Feminists declared the Blue Laws unfair to working women. The laws were ultimately changed.

The campaign cost Thomas several hundred dollars for the fine levied by the city. He secured a national, regional and local TV audience for free, and the right to operate his store seven days a week. A simple spark accomplished what top advertising agencies, lobbyists and a whole lot of money failed to do.

Questions:
Why don’t we see more creativity? For example, Wired says Toys ‘R’ Us is promoting Mario Kart by using a fanmade mockup for the box art. What impedes creative possibilities in a campaign?