Top 10 Publicity Stunts Edit

Jeremy Gutsche (Apr 15, 09)

- Human mirrors, train station flash mobs and college dorm light shows. Today we hunt: Viral Publicity Stunts.

10. Improv Everywhere are the masters of viral publicity stunts: in February 2008, they brought a group of 200 people to a frozen stand-still in Grand Central Station in New York. That inspired over 40 other cities around the world to do the same in public places. (x 2 videos)

9. Just this month, a choreographed flash mob for “The Sound of Music” took place at Antwerp’s Central Station. Weaving through the hoards of people, a musical troop burst onto the scene, claiming their public dance floor. “Do-Re-Mi” never sounded so cool!

8. Tim Edwards, a homeless man in Houston, Texas, is the star of ‘Pimp This Bum,’ a YouTube campaign for a website that lets people donate goods, money or services to help him back on his feet. It’s paid off! Edwards was provided with a 35-day alcohol detox program in Seattle, worth $13,800.

7. Christina Aguilera’s latest perfume ‘Simply,’ uses the tagline, “Sometimes it’s all you need to wear,” which is exactly what this guerrilla campaign in Israel focused on. Thousands of clothes hangers were outfitted with nothing but perfume samples and hung in various locations around the city. They reached 1.5 million consumers, and had the highest ever sales for a new perfume in Israel.

6. To promote Vanity Fair’s lingerie line, called the Vassarettes, they held a contest for an all-female band with the same name. The winning Vassarettes rocked out in nothing but their underwear. Now that’s raising awareness!

5. You’ve seen Verizon’s “Can You Hear Me Know?” commercials, right? Well, the famous test man and his Verizon network entourage followed an oblivious teen snowboarder talking on his mobile phone on the slopes. After his shock fades, he smiles in glory as he tells boasts to his unbelieving friend on the phone. Dude, this is better than being punked!

4. What happens when you pair beer bottles and professional musicians? Given empty bottles of the Australian beer, Victoria Bitter, the official Melbourne Symphony Orchestra played the beer’s commercial theme song! I’ll toast to that!

3. Häagen-Dazs, yes the delicious ice cream company, sponsored a two-day private concert in Tokyo that let people listen to classical violin and indulge in UNLIMITED ice cream while they lounged IN beds! While the music at the ‘Dolce Heavenly Concert’ isn’t for me, I’d make the sacrifice for the ice cream!

2. This street in California is almost cooler than driving a Porsche on the autobahn… almost. Honda had a stretch of road, Avenue K, in a Californian desert town, grooved so it would play the Lone Ranger theme song or Rossini’s William Tell as cars drove over it—like rumble strips that actually sound good. The musical road ONLY worked for Honda Civics driving precisely at 55mph (88km/h).

1. College dorm window shows… sounds a lot dirtier than it actually is! The residents of a university in Poland used their dormitory windows to create an animated light show, complete with music from James Bond, Knight Rider, Snake Games and Chuck Norris.

VIDEO OF THE DAY: Human Mirrors

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