Enhanced Games: Did the $320m marketing stunt backfire?

About this episode

This episode explores the psychology behind the Enhanced Games marketing stunt and its implications.

The Enhanced Games, hosted in Las Vegas last Saturday, made a bold claim. With the use of performance-enhancing drugs, enhanced athletes would break not just personal records but world records. And the end goal? To sell those same drugs to the masses. It’s arguably the biggest marketing stunt of the year so far, and today on Nudge I reveal the psychology behind it. Did the Enhanced Games succeed? Listen to find out. --- Unlock the Nudge Vaults: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/vaults Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew/ --- Today’s sources Landy, D., & Sigall, H. (1974). Beauty is talent: Task evaluation as a function of the performer's physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 29(3), 299–304. Miller, A. G. (1970). Role of physical attractiveness in impression formation. Psychonomic Science, 19(4), 241–242. Mujika, I., & Burke, L. M. (2019). Swimming fast when it counts: A 7-year analysis of Olympic and World Championships performance. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. Nicolau, J. L., Mellinas, J. P., & Martín-Fuentes, E. (2020). The…

People in this episode

Host: Phill Agnew

Topics covered

• marketing stunt
• performance-enhancing drugs
• psychology
• sports
• world records

Keywords

• Enhanced Games
• marketing
• performance-enhancing drugs
• Las Vegas
• world records

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Enhanced Games

Books & works: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, Annals of Tourism Research

Places: Las Vegas

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