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Bobblehead Giveaway Backfires

Freedom General Manager Connie  Hildebrant said several fans were "unappreciative" of how bobblehead dolls of Freedom manager and former Reds pitcher Tom Browning were distributed on a Tuesday night. 

"We will never do another bobblehead giveaway," Hildebrant said. 

The Freedom's Web site said fans had a chance to "possibly take home 'Mr. Perfect' with you" at the game with the Chillicothe Paints. 

So Debbie Krohman, of Villa Hills, bought 40 tickets for $300 to the game, in hopes of getting a bobblehead. She said in four conversations with Freedom staff before the game, she was told they didn't know how many bobbleheads would be available and she should arrive early. 

But Krohman said when she got to the stadium when the gates opened at 6 p.m., she was told fans would have to look under their seats in the seventh inning to check for paper vouchers; 1,200 bobbleheads were available for a crowd of 2,148. 

She said about 20 fans in her group wound up with bobbleheads. 

"Of course we were disappointed," Krohman said. "I just thought the advertising was a little misleading." 

Even Florence Mayor Diane Whalen missed out on a bobblehead. 

"I stopped by on my way to a city council meeting," she said. "When they told me they weren't giving them out until the seventh inning, I gave my two tickets away. It's unfortunate." 

Hildebrant said no advertising guaranteed every fan a bobblehead. 

Krohman said Hildebrant refunded the $300 and then "stormed off in a rage." Hildebrant said she refunded the money, expecting Krohman and her party would leave the park. They stayed for the whole game. 

"It's a shame," Krohman said. "It's such a nice park, not a bad seat in the place. But I don't think we'll ever go back." 

Hildebrant said she learned about the giveaway distribution technique at a Major League Baseball promotions seminar in September but didn't inform her staff in order to keep the technique secret. 

"Last year (when the team played in Hamilton, Ohio) we had one guy buy 750 tickets and wanted 750 bobbleheads," Hildebrant said. "By 11 that night they were on Ebay. You can't discriminate against people like that. But this time we wanted to give everybody at least the opportunity to get one." 

Dave Slyby, an account manager with Associated Premium Corporation, a Cincinnati-based marketing company that helped coordinate the Browning giveaway, said bobbleheads given away at sporting events are the most valuable. 

"We just finished with our (University of Kentucky basketball coach) Tubby Smith bobbleheads, selling them at Kroger stores," Slyby said. "But with the giveaways, their limited quantities make them much more popular than the marketed ones."

Execrpted from: www.cincinnati.com