Top 10 PR and marketing stunts and campaigns of February 2017
By Rich Leigh on Monday, March 6, 2017
Before I get onto the top stunts/campaigns, here’s something some of you might quite like… but, as always, feel free to skip to the numbered bit if you’d prefer.
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Here, in reverse order (and based solely on the number of unique views each post received), are the top ten PR and marketing campaigns throughout February 2017:
10. TalkTalk TV partners with nations’ most honest movie critics: 5 year-olds – post by MHP Brands’ Mark Perkins
In a bid to jump on the annual buzz around the Oscars, TalkTalk TV offered a 50% discount on a selection of previous Oscar winning films.
The brand decided to recruit 10 of the nation’s ‘most vocal and honest critics’ to give their opinions on this year’s Academy Award-nominated films – to unsurprisingly cute results and coverage on the likes of the Metro, Express and AOL.
9. P0rn site responds to archaic Utahn bill by redirecting all traffic to sex ed videos
This campaign has been criminally underappreciated on the site, in my opinion – and I feel it has something to do with how wordy it is.
P0rn site xHamster capitalised on a rejected bill with this well-judged stunt.
“In a 12-2 vote, the House Education Committee [in Utah, USA] struck down a bill that would have given parents the ability to choose to opt their kid into comprehensive sex education including instruction on consent and emergency contraception.”
xHamster has responded by sending traffic to the site from Utah to a series of PG-13 sex education videos they’d made:
The allusion to Utah being the ‘thirstiest’ state in the nation is from this 2009 report, that found Utah ranked top in subscriptions to bongo sites.
8. Oysters For The Price of a Freddo Bar, Happy Valentine’s Day – post by The Wern’s Lawrence Davies
Iin the build up to Valentine’s Day, Morrison’s announced that they would be selling oysters for 25p – the same price as a Freddo Bar, down from between £1-5.
7. London Dungeon #sorrynotsorry for morbid Valentine’s campaign – post by Angharad Welsh
A Valentine’s Day campaign fell flat for one of London’s most famous attractions for many (admittedly eternally angry tweeters), but ensured the brand was part of a conversation it usually has nothing to do with.
6. Volvo opens new relaxation lodge in Swedish mountains
Volvo and premium hotel company, Tablet Hotels partnered to launch a ‘Get Away’ lodge in the Swedish mountains to promote Volvo’s new V90 Cross Country.
Though the tie-up was simply to launch the new car, it comes as part of a bigger campaign idea aimed at people struggling to find that elusive work-life balance.
5. Thousands of Swedes ignored homeless people offering free event tickets
A Swedish opera house is currently playing host to its spring show, ‘God Disguised‘.
To promote the show, and illustrate how exposed groups are ignored in society (a theme in the show), a number of homeless people performing in it took to ten different street locations with free tickets.
The performers wrote signs, offering two free tickets to the first people to stop and talk to them. It took 12 hours for the first person to claim 2 free tickets.
4. BrewDog introduces ‘Puppy Parental Leave’ – post by Cal Gable
In a fairly tame campaign, BrewDog has publicly committed to giving all of their employees a week off to look after new dogs in a scheme called ‘Puppy Parental Leave’.
A few days ago, the craft beer brand announced its BrewDog hotel, the Doghouse, ‘the world’s first craft beer hotel and sour brewery’.
3. Edelman UK’s launched #betahunt – a digital graduate hunt with a difference
Edelman (number 1 in PR Week’s Top 150 agencies) went all Ready Player One with its newest graduate hunt, and not only is it more akin to what you’d expect from MI5 than anything I’ve seen in the industry on the recruitment front before, it really is great fun.
www.areyouthefuture.com is a Robert Langdon-esque digital treasure hunt, sending applicants from virtual pillar to post in a bid to find 3 codes. It’s not giving too much away to say that hunters will be sent to all many of the better-known platforms – and a few left-field ones, too.
2. P0rnHub upload Trump’s inauguration speech – post by Lydia Bryant
A naughty video was uploaded to PR dream brand P0rnhub at the beginning of February entitled: ‘Rich White Man F**ks Entire Country All At Once’.
In reality, in a well-judged (in terms of what’s going to be appreciated/shared) PR move, the video was President Trump’s inauguration speech.
1. Contactless Payment ‘Smart Benches’ Installed in London for World Cancer Day post by The Wern’s Lawrence Davies
To boost donations and drive awareness of World Cancer Day on the 4th February, Cancer Research installed ten Smart Benches across London.
The activity was announced in partnership with ‘smart cities’ business, Strawberry Energy, who created the world’s first contactless payment bench.
The wi-fi enabled bench encourages members of the public to donate £2 to the charity. The new installations into Islington and Lewisham are fitted with smartphone charges and complimentary internet access.
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Thanks for reading
