The Denver Egoist shares the story of an underwater billboard hoax/viral/stunt/lie in which Ivar’s Seafood Restaurant placed billboards underneath the Puget Sound. They told the media the boards had been placed there in the 50’s by Ivar’s founder who, as the story goes, thought people would one day travel beneath the Sound in submarines. The founder wanted to make sure his advertising message was there for all to see.
Of course, the story is fake and the boards were placed there just weeks before the story was planted and the boards hauled up. While this hoax/viral/lie was making the rounds, an ad campaign touted the fact Ivar’s would roll back its chowder pricing to 1950’s levels in celebration of the discovery.
As The Denver reports, the stunt even had Seattle historian Paul Dorpat verify the fact the boards were from the 50’s. He lied of course and was in on the joke.
Ivar’s reports its chowder sales during the month of the stunt skyrocketed to 83,000 cups, up from 19,000 cups a year earlier.
The moral of the story? Lying still works.
