When one is hoodwinked, the natural reaction is to get mad and start calling people names but we're not going to do that because we think this hoodwink was one of the best marketing stunts to come around in a long time. As we reported in late January, a helicopter with a naked guy hanging from it was spotted at New Zealand's Big Day Out but the stunt went wrong and the guy fell to the ground and was injured. We also received a taped conversation between what was assumed to be a representative of New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority and a person at DDB, the agency thought to be behind the stunt in which the CAA representative was trying to obtain details of the event.
None of this happened. While we were skeptical at the time and knew New Zealand site Nzgirl had something to do with the stunt, we couldn't get anyone to confirm or deny anything. As it turns out, Nzgirl, which has a reputation of doing crazy, stunts, wanted to top everything they'd done before so they decided to do nothing...except tell a few people they did and let the rumor mill run with it. A dozen people were hired to spread the story about the helicopter and the nude guy and that was it. New Zealand media bit and reported the story as if it had happened albeit with a bit of distrust. Nzgirl reaveals all here.
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For its client, HBO, New York-based Deep Focus is using Google Maps on The Sopranos website to map locations of fictitious events that have occurred during the series to help viewers get ready for the show's March debut.
Creative Criminal, a blog based in India, reports Playboy has installed branded floor mirrors at the entrances of malls, movie theaters and stores and warns women might want to be careful walking past said mirrors. Or a certain "upskirt" crowd, this'll certainly get attention.
To promote Glamour's first spring fashion issue in the Netherlands, BSUR Concepting has developed what is sure to be an extremely funny event; the Glamour Stiletto Run. The event, part of a broader campaign which includes television, print, online, viral and buzz, will take place March 9 in an Amsterdam shopping district where women will race 75 meters in high heels. BSUR plans to take over the as yet undetermined shopping spot for an hour and award the winner with 10,000 Euros. Now that's a promotion to be seen. You can view the promotional site and commercial here.
Duval Guillaume Antwerp has created an ambient (cool word for out of home) campaign that will transform fountains across European countries into Schweppes bottles illustrating the product's sparkling effervescence. Though we're not sure we'd like to enjoy beautiful fountains across Europe adorned as Schweppes bottles, we will say this is most certainly a show stopper in terms of garnering notice for the product.
To promote the new, first person shooter EA game, Black, Freestyle has launched My Black Valentine. Stereotypical connotations of the word "black" and "shoot" aside, the microsite helps those who are without love during Valentine's day get their anger out by shooting things. It's simple enough, fun for a few minutes and you can send it to a friend which, by current definition, makes it a viral. At least that's what Freestyle says.
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Back in June 2005, we wrote about a Levi's promotion which placed "Denim Monster" artistic structures in San Francisco's Union Square. At the time, they were, apparently, static structures that didn't move. Now, it seems, a video has surfaced showing these "Denim Monsters" now move about causing double-takes as the creature walks down the sidewalk. We don't know if this is a recent development ot not but we like it a lot.
Boing Boing links to a story on the Consumerist that digs into graphic chip manufacturer Nvidia having possibly hired a group of people through Arbuthnot Entertainment Group to visit Internet forums, build up trust and then use that trust to shill Nvidia products. The Consumerist has attempted several times to speak with Nvidia Public Relations Director Derek Perez to obtain confirmation but has not had its calls returned.
While there may be nothing wrong with unleashing a torrent of paid shills to promote a brand online, doing so without disclosing that fact is likely to backfire and hurt Nvidia more then it every could have possibly helped. Bad move. Wake up. Smell the honesty.
While brilliance is something we don't see very often in advertising let alone in any industry, thank God creativity still exists somewhere. Ad Blather points out a BBDO New York-created campaign for Kinko's which places an oversized highlighter at the end of a line yellow line drawn on a roadside curb. We like.
In a clever marketing effort and to encourage Swedish environmental awareness and to introduce a new loan option from financial institution SEB which promotes the purchase of environmental cars eight Scandinavian snowmen have been built in Stockholm to carry the message. The snowmen are the work of Lowe Brindfors which appears to be too busy doing client work to create their own website.
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