Friday, Jun. 10, 2011
Prince Edward's Marketing Adage: Death Sells
In 2006, a 17-year-old Australian schoolboy taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh adventure scheme — a program that encourages young people to participate in volunteer work, sports and expeditions — died while trekking unsupervised through the bush. Three years later, reporters in Australia asked Prince Edward — the Queen and Philip's youngest son, and the chairman of the scheme — about the incident. He couldn't recount the specific circumstances; however, he did suggest that the death of a British boy in 1956 had boosted the popularity of the program. "Obviously we don't want that to happen ... [But its] reputation among young people was, 'Wow, this is serious. You could die doing this.' "