It is a pretty ingenious way to get people aware about being prepared for emergencies. It made headlines on the news, after all.
I'm sure there are some people out there who saw this and realized they were generally unprepared for emergencies. Hell, I don't even have an emergency kit anywhere in my house. Well, yet again, I live in suburban New Jersey where the worst thing that happens is that it rains a bit and the grass gets muddy.
I gotta give it to the CDC though for making an interesting way of getting people aware of being prepared for emergencies.