Well, Balloon Boy was a hoax and we all know that the father of that family was motivated to get a reality TV show.
You might think other families would not dare pull any sort of stunt to land a reality TV show after the Balloon Boy hoax, but the Dunn family from Vancouver did it right.
In late December of 2009 the Dunn family lit themselves on fire and danced around a pile of wood holding sticks with big marshmallows.
The Dunn family are stunt enthusiasts with Jim having appeared in several movies as a stunt double. His wife Celia and their kids Connor, 15, Ali, 12, and Austin, 9 are also stunt doubles themselves and are Canada's only full on stunt family.
What makes this an excellent example of a positive pseudo event is that Jim Dunn was meticulous in the planning and execution of the stunt, and the stunt itself was innovative and eye catching.
Compared to the Balloon Boy family, the Dunn's were clear in their motives and were not deceptive to the media. All members of the family were willing and able to be interviewed to help give the stunt positive publicity and credibility.
Some say there is no such thing as bad press or bad publicity, but in the realm of pseudo events and publicity stunts you better not mislead the public; especially when public safety and the life of a child is at stake!
Speaking of which, Mr. Dunn quintuple-checks the kids' flame-retardant suits, doesn't he? Given the risk to his kids, I have to say I wouldn't support his choice of pseudo-event, either. It was effective if it got media attention, but the way I look at it, Brandon Heene was likely safer (physically, anyway) hiding in his parents' basement than the Dunn kids are when they're on fire in the driveway.
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