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1[[quoteright:338:[[ComicBook/TheInhumans https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nutty_publicity_stunt.png]]]]
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3If aliens are marching into Times Square, or a garishly-costumed superhero is fighting a bad guy atop the Empire State Building, most onlookers will take the event at face value. But others, [[WeirdnessMagnet even if they live in a world where strange things are known to happen on a regular basis]], will dismiss it as "some nutty PublicityStunt," an advertising campaign, or perhaps location shooting for a science-fiction movie.
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5Frequently observed as an aspect of living in a QuirkyTown. Occasionally, characters might intentionally invoke the trope as a way of maintaining the {{Masquerade}}, but in most cases, people don't need any "help" to dismiss the weird stuff.
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7Sister trope to IsThisAJoke, but in that trope, the character believes the strange events to be a joke ''directed specifically at her'', or perhaps at a smallish group of people. The effects in Some Nutty Publicity Stunt are usually too widespread, elaborate, or large to be written off as mere pranks.
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9The inverse of YouJustRuinedTheShot, in which actors are mistaken for the real thing. See also AllPartOfTheShow, in which the strange events are thought to be part of some specific public performance, and YourCostumeNeedsWork, which is when a person thinks a particular character is wearing a costume but isn't (includes everything from monsters to celebrities).
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12!!Examples:
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14[[foldercontrol]]
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16[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
17* A [[Anime/DigimonAdventure first season]] episode of ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' uses this, when one of the kids falls into the river and his Digimon has to save him and the crowd from an evil squid-Digimon.
18* In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' the characters once summoned Porunga in the middle of a city, knowing that most people would just assume it was some experimental hologram from Bulma's MadScientist dad.
19* Used more than once in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', both in the Magical World and during the Mahora Festival.
20* ''Literature/RebuildWorld'': When Akira is defending Sheryl’s relic shop from the {{Cyborg}} Zelmo, Zelmo realizes that Akira’s PoweredArmor is being manipulated by a third party as PeoplePuppets. Zelmo not realizing the VirtualSidekick Alpha’s existence, believes this must be because the company that made Akira’s armor has a veteran hunter remote controlling Akira’s as part of a sales boosting stunt, and pops jamming smoke that would have disabled such a link.
21* Used briefly in ''Anime/TurnAGundam''. When Queen Dianna unseals The Dark History, huge holograms showing the wars of past eras pop up in cities across the Moon, causing confusion and panic in the citizens. Except for the FatBastard leader of the GoldfishPoopGang, who just glances at the holograms and goes "Eh, must be some sort of movie-promotion." His team eventually manages to convince him otherwise...
22[[/folder]]
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24[[folder:Comic Books]]
25* Franchise/WonderWoman provoked what may have been the first comic book appearance of this trope in ''ComicBook/SensationComics'' #2 (1942). Stealing a car from some Axis agents, they start shooting at her. As Wonder Woman deflects the bullets of one bad guy's tommy gun (with one hand) while driving off, the other says "I saw her on the stage! Let her go, she's probably doing some publicity stunt!" Which shows you how they lost the war. Makes more sense than most since Wonder Woman's first public appearance, in the previous story, ''was'' on the stage, showing off her "Bullets and Bracelets" trick.
26* Invoked ''extremely'' often in Creator/MarvelComics, particularly those written by Creator/StanLee. Bystanders who see fantastical superhero action inevitably exclaim "Ah, must be some publicity stunt!" or "They must be filming some nutty new sci-fi movie!" The curious implication is that the populace believes New York City to be positively ''infested'' with publicists and filmmakers (TruthInTelevision?). Based on the sheer number of appearances, this might be Stan Lee's favorite trope.
27** After the first appearance (and then disappearance) of ComicBook/{{Galactus}} in ''Fantastic Four'' #50 (1966), this is J. Jonah Jameson's theory of the event. A bystander remarks, however, "''I've'' learned that the best thing to do is read Jameson's editorials and then believe exactly the ''opposite''!"
28** One bystander reacts to the first appearance of ComicBook/MsMarvel in ''Ms. Marvel'' #1 (1977) by saying "It's an act! A publicity stunt! Like that gag at the World Trade Center with the styrofoam Film/KingKong!" Ms. Marvel's thought balloon lampshades the trope a bit: "Can she believe that? Are people really so cynical -- or is such an attitude peculiar to New York?"
29** Occasionally, even the hero, who should know better, puts forth the theory. [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]], in ''ComicBook/JourneyIntoMystery'' #91 (1963), had already seen plenty of weird stuff by the time he saw a bank float into the sky, only to say "What's happening below? Some kind of advertising stunt?"
30* Stan Lee was using this trope as early as 1952 in ''Mystery Tales'' #6, in the story "Skull-Face" (excerpted [[http://bullyscomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Skull-Face here]] by Bully the Little Stuffed Bull). It's the story of an inventive publicist for a horror movie called ''Skull-Face''. His plan is to "make the ''whole world'' 'Skull-Face' conscious!" And it works! [[GoneHorriblyRight A little too well]], actually, as the publicity campaign somehow revives or creates the "real" Skull-Face (perhaps in a variant of GodsNeedPrayerBadly?) Skull-Face attacks the publicist, who calls the police... who, knowing him, dismiss the call: "That guy'll do ''anything'' to get in the papers! Forget it!"
31* Common in the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse.
32** [[http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+2221-1 One story]] has Donald and Fethry Duck fleeing down the street from a demon before sucking it into a [[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} ghost trap-like device]]. The onlookers decide that they're watching an advertisement for a new vacuum cleaner.
33* Invoked in ''Worlds Finest'' [[http://www.the-isb.com/?p=20 #186,]] where Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/{{Batman}} travel back in time to Colonial New England (ItMakesSenseInContext), then pass off their superhero costumes as actors promoting an upcoming theater company.
34-->'''Superman:''' See? "S" for "Shakespeare"!
35* A ComicBook/MartianManhunter story in ''Detective Comics'' #306 (August 1962) involved a gigantic bear menacing the city. An unimpressed bystander says [[http://bullyscomics.blogspot.com/2013/06/bear-attack-month-day-12-manhunters.html "Relax... It's probably a publicity stunt for the circus!"]]
36* An early ComicBook/SheHulk story has newly introduced villain the Man-Elephant holding forth on the streets of New York while some onlookers theorize that it's a promotion for ''Film/TheElephantMan''.
37* In ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'' #200, a rumor spreads throughout Paris that Creator/GeorgeLucas is filming a big budget sci-fi movie in the city after a crowd witnesses ComicBook/RachelSummers using her powers. As a BrickJoke, when Sentinels attack San Francisco in ''Uncanny X-Men'' #202, a confused civilian can be heard asking if George Lucas is shooting a movie.
38* In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel'' during the Starscream Triumphant story, Scorponok and the Dinobots go to Tokyo to fight Starscream. They're immediately mistaken for props for a new monster movie, much to Grimlock's irritation.
39* ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1942}}'': A passerby wonders if the Adjudicator's appearance next to the Washington Monument in #291 is some kind of publicity thing for the new ''Franchise/StarWars'' movie, but he's not terribly convinced.
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42[[folder:Film]]
43* In ''Film/LastActionHero'', some of the characters from the "Jack Slater" film universe have escaped into the real world, including Jack himself, who's played by Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger. Jack and an old villain wind up having a fight at the premiere of the latest Slater film, and the real Arnold remarks that he didn't know the producers were planning a stunt. He is impressed by the quality of his "lookalike", though.
44* In ''Film/AVeryBradySequel'', Jan tries to show off her imaginary boyfriend, George Glass, by carrying a mannequin into the cafe. It falls apart more easily than she expects, resulting in onlookers reacting to the date as a performance arts piece.
45-->'''Jan:''' ''(embarrassed)'' Oh George, [[AccidentalPun pull yourself together]]!
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48[[folder:Literature]]
49* Invoked in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' #27. The Animorphs smuggle Erek the android out of a crowded mall by claiming that he's a new kitchen robot, and that the gorilla stealing him (Marco) is a guy in a gorilla suit promoting a new ''Franchise/KingKong'' movie.
50* Josh's initial reaction to the town's hotel being haunted in ''Literature/AToZMysteries'' is this. His friends are quick to point out the owner of the hotel's lack of humor.
51* ''Literature/FateStrangeFake'': A few civilians witness True Rider in action, but assume from her outfit and horse that she is a performer promoting a store.
52* This is what Vernon Dursley thinks in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' when he sees wizards running in wizard dress while celebrating the defeat of [[BigBad Voldemort]].
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55[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
56* In ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'' episode "[[Recap/TheAdventuresOfSupermanS1E21TheHumanBomb The Human Bomb]]", Clark pretends that he believes the HostageSituation is a publicity stunt so he can go change.
57* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
58** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E6TheBellsOfSaintJohn "The Bells of Saint John"]]: The TARDIS appears in front of a crowd, and the Doctor collects money in a fez from civilians who think it is some sort of magic trick.
59** [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]]: The TARDIS is flown in by helicopter to the middle of London, attracting huge crowds. Osgood tells Kate that their cover story is English conjuror Creator/DerrenBrown, "[[NoodleIncident again]]".
60* Happens at first in ''Series/HikoninSentaiAkibaranger'' when the battles start leaving the delusion world.
61* In the series premiere of ''Series/UnderTheDome'', Norrie and her parents are driving through Chester's Mill when a warning comes on the radio about the dome. Norrie dismisses it as "some sort of viral marketing", but she reconsiders when a truck in front of them crashes into the invisible dome at high speed and is crushed by the impact.
62* One episode of ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'' had Justin use this excuse on a crowd after a group of aliens land on Waverly Place and demand Jerry's new delicious milkshake machine (ItMakesSenseInContext...sorta). The crowd buys it hook-line-and-sinker, and [[MuggleBestFriend Zeke]] even comments that [[YourCostumeNeedsWork Their Costumes Need Work]].
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65[[folder:Podcasts]]
66* ''Podcast/KakosIndustries:'' One of the reasons a ZombieApocalypse unleashed by the company gets out of control in "Wake the Dead" is because, on top of various acts of incompetence by the people that let it loose, none of the directions for any of their stored zombie viruses mention that if a virus is used on Halloween it will spread like wildfire because no one will believe it is real.
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69[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
70* Considered the go-to standard rationalization for normal humans in ''TabletopGame/TheWorldOfDarkness'' setting.
71[[/folder]]
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73[[folder:Theatre]]
74* In ''Theatre/OneTouchOfVenus'', when Venus enters a dress shop [[ThereWasADoor by magically dissolving the window]] and proceeds to clothe herself, a crowd begins to gather around her (to say nothing of the irate manager). One man surmises it's ''Series/TruthOrConsequences''. A second man says, "Nah, it's a plug for brassieres!"
75[[/folder]]
76
77[[folder:Western Animation]]
78* ''The Beagles,'' a 1966 cartoon from the creators of ''WesternAnimation/{{Underdog}}'', featured two canine musicians (Stringer and Tubby) who get put in outrageous publicity stunts by Scotty, their agent.
79* In one ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' cartoon, the police refuse to help Uncle Scrooge get Film/KingKong off his money bin. Instead, they give him "one hour to remove that unauthorized balloon ad or whatever it is."
80[[/folder]]
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