History Main / SomeNuttyPublicityStunt

Frequently observed as an aspect of living in a CityOfWeirdos. Occasionally, characters might intentionally invoke the trope as a way of maintaining TheMasquerade, but in most cases people don't need any "help" to dismiss the weird stuff.

* Franchise/WonderWoman provoked what may have been the first comic book appearance of this trope in ''Sensation Comics'' #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.

* In one ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' 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."

* 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 New York in ''Uncanny X-Men'' #202, a confused civilian can be heard asking if George Lucas is shooting a movie.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' examples:
** In "Day of the Doctor", the TARDIS is dropped by helicopter in the middle of London, attracting huge crowds. Osgood tells Kate that their cover story is English conjuror Creator/DerrenBrown, "again."
** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E7TheBellsOfStJohn The Bells of St John]]", the TARDIS appears in front of a crowd and he collects money in a fez from civilians who think it is some sort of magic trick.

[[folder: Podcasts]]

* Franchise/WonderWoman provoked what may have been the first comic book appearance of this trope, in one of her earliest adventures. 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.[[note]]''Sensation Comics'' #2 (1942)[[/note]]

** After the first appearance (and then disappearance) of ComicBook/{{Galactus}}, 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''!"[[note]]''Fantastic Four'' #50 (1966)[[/note]]
** One bystander reacts to the first appearance of Comicbook/MsMarvel 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?"[[note]]''Ms. Marvel'' #1 (1977)[[/note]]
** Occasionally, even the hero, who should know better, puts forth the theory. {{Comicbook/Thor}}, in an early story, 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?" [[note]]''Journey Into Mystery'' #91 (1963)[[/note]]
* Stan Lee was using this trope as early as 1952, 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!"[[note]]''Mystery Tales'' #6 (1952)[[/note]]

* One ComicBook/MartianManhunter story 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!"]][[note]]''Detective Comics'' #306 (August 1962)[[/note]]

* 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.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

* In ''[[Manga/DragonBall Dragonball Z]]'' the characters once were GenreSavvy enough about this trope, so they 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.

** In "Day of the Doctor", the TARDIS is dropped by helicopter in the middle of London, attracting huge crowds. Osgood tells Kate that their cover story is Derren Brown - 'again.'

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode Day of the Doctor, the TARDIS is dropped by helicopter in the middle of London, attracting huge crowds. Osgood tells Kate that their cover story is Derren Brown - 'again.'
** The Doctor has already made use of this trope in the episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E7TheBellsOfStJohn The Bells of St John]]", where the TARDIS appears in front of a crowd and he collects money in a fez from civilians who think it is some sort of magic trick.

** [[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 [[Film/{{Ghostbusters}} ghost trap-like device]]. The onlookers decide that they're watching an advertisement for a new vacuum cleaner.

** After the first appearance (and then disappearance) of {{Galactus}}, 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''!"[[note]]''Fantastic Four'' #50 (1966)[[/note]]

* One MartianManhunter story 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!"]][[note]]''Detective Comics'' #306 (August 1962)[[/note]]

* 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!" Curiously, this means the populace seems to think New York City is positively ''infested'' with publicists and filmmakers (TruthInTelevision?). Based on the sheer number of appearances, this might be Stan Lee's favorite trope.

[[quoteright:350:[[TheInhumans http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NuttyPublicityStunt_8946.jpg]]]]

* Franchise/WonderWoman provoked what may have been the first comic book appearance of this trope, in one of her earliest adventures. 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. (To be fair to the bad guys, Wonder Woman's first public appearance, in the previous story, ''was'' on the stage, showing off her "Bullets and Bracelets" trick.)[[note]]''Sensation Comics'' #2 (1942)[[/note]]

* In ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'' episode "The Human Bomb", Clark pretends that he believes the HostageSituation is a publicity stunt so he can go change.