Get Laid. And Maybe Paid!

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No, you don't have to move to Nevada. Durex is conducting a cattle call for condom testers, ostensibly -- MBP wryly adds -- to find out how its products are performing.

"Sexual intercourse enthusiasts" who volunteer at the Condom Tester site get a handy-dandy toolkit with vibrating rings, condoms and lubricants. One volunteer gets $1,000.

Try explaining that one to mom and dad.

Anyway, we of course have registered because we're always good sports where a noble cause is concerned. Post-registration, the brave are invited to The Pants Whisperer -- which we've seen -- and Propose the Ring -- which we wish we'd caught earlier, because damned if a vibrating ring isn't a better take on the De Beers manifesto.

by Angela Natividad    Oct-23-07    
Topic: Brands, Good, Guerilla, Online, Promotions



Joe Jaffe Climbs Amazon Book Charts With 'Bumrush' Stunt

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Not necessarily sure what to make of all of this but, if anything, when Joe Jaffe is involved, it's bound to be a gleeful tempest in a teacup though one which manages to capture quite a bit of attention as well as achieve marked significance and success. Jaffe asked everyone who was planning to buy his new book, Join the Conversation, yesterday on Amazon so that the book would climb the daily sales charts. And climb it did.

At 8:52AM, the book was listed at number 4,840. By 6:23PM, the book has risen to number 26 overall and the second most sold business book of the day behind Alan Greenspan's book. Whether or not cramming all his book sales into one day will make him more money is unclear but that doesn't matter to Jaffe. He wants to get people involved, more so that they normally would. He's turned the mundane process of buying a book into a communal event of sorts which is in complete alignment with the subject matter of his book.

by Steve Hall    Oct-22-07    
Topic: Good, Guerilla, Online, Publishing



Coffees of Hawaii Jump-Starts Triathletes with Caffeine-Laced Beverages

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We may always go "eh?" upon seeing one of its campaigns (observe one and two), but the Coffees of Hawaii marketing department is always actively putting coffee in people's hands, and that's admirable.

Coffees of Hawaii debuted its Kona Nightingale coffee at the 2007 Ford Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona. Athletes were given little cups of iced espresso out of a floating bar in the week preceding the race.

Hrm. Athletic exertion + icy espresso. The formula for heart failure?

It's definitely memorable.

by Angela Natividad    Oct-22-07    
Topic: Events, Guerilla, Promotions



Snow Plows the New 'Just When You Thought...' Ad Medium

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OMG. Just when we thought we'd written this line for the last time, we're gonna write it again: "Just when you thought every last inch of space had been covered with advertising, yet another appears." Most recently, it was the front of washing machines in laundromats. Now, it's the front of plows to promote Audi Canada's Quattro event which aims to get people into dealerships this week to try ot the vehicle.

Accompanied by radio, print and online, five snow plows were outfitted with signage and painted plows which read, "Winter is Coming" along with the dates of the event. As we've said every time before, it's only a matter of time before someone offers to paint our house for free as long as they can paint a giant logo on the front of the house. Lowe Roche created the campaign.

by Steve Hall    Oct-17-07    
Topic: Events, Good, Guerilla, Online, Outdoor, Radio



Peugeot 308 Gets Guerrilla-Style Introduction

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In Portugal, the new Peugeot 308 got some guerrilla-style action courtesy of Torke Stunt. To hype the launch of the new model, two trucks were outfitted with giant, 3D objects in the shape of the number 308. Fifty eight wooden boxes were placed around Portuguese cities with peep holes containing a message telling people to check out the new model at a dealership. In airports, limo drivers held signs with the number 308, ads were placed atop departure and arrival screens and boxes with big 308s on them were placed on baggage claim belts. We're betting that last one wouldn't play well here in the States.

It's nice to see guerrilla efforts done campaign style. So often, they are just one offs. Good ones but one offs none the less.

by Steve Hall    Oct-16-07    
Topic: Good, Guerilla



Romeo's Large Package Promotes Dutch National Ballet

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When we receive an email which reads, "ADK Europe's first campaign for Dutch National Ballet saw the team sneak around the city at night projecting images of a man with a large package and a frightened young woman onto buildings," we wonder just what kind of big package they are referring to. Well, it's not the UPS kind, rather, the men-in-ballet-tights kind.

Anyway, it's one of those images projected on a building sort of campaign that also includes a mobile element. Those who see the projections, posters and other street marketing efforts are directed to call a number which plays, "This is Juliet/Romeo. You are listening to my voice mail. If you have the answer to my heart-felt yearning and can tell me where I can find my beloved Juliet/Romeo, please send me an SMS with details of where you have seen him, so I can go to him right away."

more »

by Steve Hall    Oct-15-07    
Topic: Good, Guerilla, Outdoor



Pizza Boxes Carry Newspaper's Classified Section Promotion

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As part of a promotion to tout its classified advertising sections, the Charleston Post and Courier launched a television and print campaign accompanied by a third, very interesting element: pizza box advertising. Yes, there's been ads on pizza boxes before but the paper's agency, RawleMurdy, worked directly with local Charleston pizza shops providing them with a total of 50,000 pizza boxes branded entirely with the paper's message and an offer for free classified listings for items under $100.

The campaign ran between August 27 and September 26. The paper reports phone inquiries and online listing are up. Not half bad in an age where many paper's are seeing a decline in classified ad revenue. You can view the print work here and one of the spots here.

by Steve Hall    Oct-10-07    
Topic: Good, Guerilla, Newspaper, Packaging, Point of Purchase



This Doctor's Office Makes You Hard

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Hey, there's ads on toilet paper. Why not on the tissue paper that covers the table in the doctor's exam room? After all, there's nothing to do in those rooms but read six month old issues of Good Housekeeping and Redbook. Why not take in a Cialis ad that just screams, "Dude, you ain't got dick!" Maybe Cialis should just install pill dispensers too. After all, the best advertisement for Cialis would be a guy walikng proudly through the waiting room sporting a pants-ripping hard on.

by Steve Hall    Oct- 9-07    
Topic: Good, Guerilla, Point of Purchase



Greenpeace Lunges for Kleenex (Again)

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This is part of Greenpeace's ongoing attempt to get Kleenex to stop using ancient trees to make its products. It's pretty much the same deal as what happened here -- indeed, they're interrupting the exact same "Let it Out" campaign -- but this time everybody's in Wrigley Fields and there's lots of bear puns (Chicago is home of the Cubs).

There's an adaptation of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at the end of the video, except the lyrics have been changed to champion the cause of bears and trees.

Clever the first time. The second time around? ...eh.

by Angela Natividad    Oct- 8-07    
Topic: Cause, Guerilla



Stand Advertising Tethers Boss to Buffalo Billboard

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This just goes to show that holding executive status in the same universe as Virgin's Richard Branson is an increasingly ridiculous job. Janet Stanek of Stand Advertising has committed to spending 30 hours perched on a billboard overlooking a highway in Buffalo, NY.

She was set up there yesterday morning and will remain there until noon today.

The stunt accomplishes (?) three goals: to celebrate Stand's 6th anniversary, raise $30K for Make-a-Wish, and "get out of those interminable Monday morning status meetings." We feel you on that one, Janet.

Janet will be tethered onto the billboard with little more than a sleeping mat and a tent (which, we hope, includes a loo). Watch her brave the elements (for the children, no less) at Boss on a Billboard.

Any way we can get a soccer ball up there with her?

by Angela Natividad    Oct- 2-07    
Topic: Celebrity, Good, Guerilla, Outdoor, Strange