There were even horrible publicity stunts back in 1896.
In an attempt to get people to buy train tickets to Texas, marketer William Crush decided to build a "temporary" city that would host a train crash. The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad offered discounts to people who wanted to travel to Crush, Texas and observe the crash — almost 50,000 people went.
Even though crowds were seated at a "safe" distance from the crash, special tracks were made, and the crew was able to jump from the trains before they collided, things didn't go according to plan.
Two boilers exploded when the trains, traveling at 45mph, crashed.
Three people were killed and dozens were injured.