I was recently listening to an address where the speaker was talking about using gimmicks to draw a crowd. If there ever was a gimmick, the example he gave was it: Every so often, before it wised up for good, his organization would rent an elephant, invite people to come see the beast, then speak to the attendees about a subject that had nothing to do with pachyderms.
Gimmicks are typically used when a group or brand thinks its ideas or products won’t interest people on their own. The topic of the meeting might bore or offend listeners? They’ll never show up willingly: We’ll trick them into coming by offering pizza. Are you a little iffy about plunking down several easy payments for one egg-making contraption? Don’t worry; they will throw in another whole machine (plus a spatula!) for free.