unicornnews: Stig stunt delivers ratings

It seems very unlikely Michael Schumacher really is the mystery test driver on TV show ‘Top Gear’ but, as a publicity stunt, claiming the former Formula One star was the real identity of the man known as The Stig definitely delivered.

For those that don’t watch or especially care about the BBC’s cars n stuff show, new cars are put through their paces on the programme by a mysterious man who is never seen out of his white overalls and helmet, the latter complete with a heavily tinted visor. The anonymity of the test driver, and the various claims about his true identity (presenter Jeremy Clarkson once claimed it was BBC news man Nicholas Witchell), is very much part of the show.

The original Stig, who wore a black outfit, eventually outed himself as stunt driver Perry McCarthy. Various people have been suggested as being Stig V.2, the most famous another Formula 1 champion, Damon Hill, though the most likely candidate is professional stuntman and Le Mans racer Ben Collins. That said, some reckon a number of different drivers play the role, the anonymity enabling producers to present different test drivers on different episodes as the same person.

Anyway, back to the publicity stunt. With a new series of the show to plug, Jeremy Clarkson cheekily used his Sun column to reveal that the identity of The Stig would be revealed on the first of the new shows. As chat rooms started to chatter about the upcoming revelation, a BBC spokesman confirmed: “As Jeremy said, in tonight’s Top Gear Stig will remove his helmet for the first time”. Clarkson joked: “As a television moment, it’s up there with Neil Armstrong walking on the… corpse of JR Ewing”.

And so the moment came, the helmet was removed, and standing there in The Stig’s clothes was one Michael Schumacher, a revelation met firstly with excitement and then doubt by the show’s faithful fanbase. Even within the show, Schumacher was shown making a mess of a Stig style test drive, leading to Clarkson concluding “I don’t think Michael Schumacher is the Stig”.

It was, of course, a stunt – if a car-based TV programme was able to get someone of Schumacher’s standing on their show each week, they’re not going to hide him behind a mask. But as publicity stunts go, it ensured the new series of ‘Top Gear’ was on the home pages of many a news and entertainment site this weekend. The result? An overnight rating for the BBC 2 show of 7 million – that’s a 30% audience share, easily beating BBC 1 and ITV’s big Sunday evening shows in the same slot.

With the made up revelation scoring the show further press coverage this morning, I think whoever thought up the Stig/Schumacher stunt definitely deserves a pat on the back. Or at least a lift home.

Posted Monday June 22 2009 by Chris Cooke

Related categories: Broadcast Media Publicity stunts