Dell marketing stunt backfires
Two Dell employees have been arrested in Texas after an internal marketing stunt to promote the new Dell Streak tablet went horribly wrong.
The new tablet can be physically integrated into Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and an employee appeared at the company headquarters in black biker leathers and black skull mask.
Carrying two metallic objects, he told unsuspecting staff on the sales floor to 'go to the lobby'. Worried staff made a series of 911 calls to the Round Rock police headquarters in Texas, prompting a SWAT team to storm the building.
After 11 minutes, the SWAT team determined that the masked man and his supervisor were part of an in-house marketing plan. They had intended to rally staff in the lobby to unveil the new tablet.
Round Rock police spokesman Eric Poteet said: "Through a series of misinterpretation and miscommunication this sent a lot of others into a controlled panic."
Both employees were arrested for misdemeanour charges of "interfering with public duties and deadly conduct".