Anonymous Texts at Bus Stops Edit

Big Brother's Creepy Bluetooth Campaign
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To promote popular reality show Big Brother 2008 on Channel TEN in Australia, advertising agency Marketforce in Perth came up with a unique bluetooth SMS campaign that really caught people by surprise. The ads embodied the “Big Brother is watching” slogan, which is the essence of the show.

The campaign installed Blue-tooth transmitters in over 20 high-traffic bus shelters around town. The transmitters automatically sent two anonymous messages to any bluetooth enabled phones in the area.

The first message was tailored specifically for the local location, with something along the lines of “Im watching u. Ur at the (customized current location)”. The second message is received 30-40 seconds later with the big reveal, saying “Big Brother is back. 7 PM weeknights on TEN”.

I like the unusual dynamics of this campaign which can intrigue people who receive a message from a “stalker” to end up being a promotion for a TV show.

Good work by creatives Ryan Albuino, Andrew Chu at the Marketforce agency.