Top 10 PR and marketing stunts and campaigns of September 2015
By Rich Leigh on Thursday, October 1, 2015
No messing this month and straight into the good stuff. 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 September 2015:
10. Harry Potter fans can have Christmas dinner in Hogwarts’ Great Hall this December
For one night only, guests are being given the opportunity to eat Christmas dinner in Hogwarts’ Great Hall at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, just outside London – though it will set you back the less-than-magical sum of £230 – and it’s only available to over 18s.
9. Cinnamon Toast Crunch create the world’s first selfie spoon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=30&v=Jg_K5j7_Bao
Poking fun at food-focused social media posts, 1,000 Selfie Spoons were created and given away, to encourage cereal fans to post a selfie whilst they eat their bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, ‘so they don’t have to choose between whether they eat or post’.
8. Man ‘becomes’ bread for a day in I Am Bread app PR stunt
Open-world bread simulator I Am Bread hit the App Store last month. From Bossa Studios – the team behind Surgeon Simulator – the game allows you to play as a piece of bread, just as the [excellent] Goat Simulator gave you the freedom to imagine life as a goat and, er, variations of ‘goats’.
To promote the game’s release, one unidentified man ‘became’ bread for a day – or, rather, wore an outfit with loads of bread on.
Don’t ask me.
7. How much is that doggy on the emoji board?
Dog welfare charity Dogs Trust has capitalised on the media’s current insistence on squeezing an emoji mention into every possible inch of writing by (cutely) creating the first ever ‘dog emoji keyboard’, representing 23 of the most popular breeds.
Each character represented a real dog at Dogs Trust, who were looking for their forever home.
6. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No…its a flying car – post by PSI’s Laura Wilkey
I’m not quite sure why, but in this stunt by McDonald’s, families driving through the drive through (with cameras on their dashboards…!?) are told that their meals have been paid for by ‘the car in front’ – which then proceeds to take off and float around a bit.
5. Snapchat shares the memories for World Alzheimer’s Day in UAE
To mark World Alzheimer Day on the 21st September, Starcom Mediavest partnered with Good Health Arabia and Getty to create a social media Alzheimer awareness campaign in the United Arab Emirates.
The campaign, using the hashtag #MemoriesMatter, was kicked off by broadcasting three Snapchat stories of nostalgic family images, which disappear and are then followed by ‘Alzheimers Erases Your Memories, Let’s Erase Alzheimers’.
4. England rugby legends back #BleedForEngland NHS campaign
On the heels of this brilliant National Blood Week effort, NHS Blood and Transplant launched a new campaign calling on 100,000 new volunteers to show their support to England throughout the Rugby World Cup ‘in a way that matters’ – by registering to become a blood donor before the 31st October (the day of the final).
There are plenty of additional campaign elements, so be sure to click through to have a proper read.
3. Ted Baker creates engaging online treasure hunt for Instagram followers
Ted Baker traveled the world and brought back trinkets to create ‘Ted’s Cabinet of Curiosities’.
On the 1st September the clothing brand then launched a two-week long Instagram treasure hunt, where followers of the account could win an undisclosed Ted Baker gift, by guessing the right object in the cabinet following a corresponding clue.
2. Panic on the streets of Dubai: Dubai Police escort escaped Dinosaur back to safety! – post by LG Electronics’ Helen Rankin
Created by IMG Worlds of Adventure to announce that the 69 state-of the-art dinosaurs in the Lost Valley – Dinosaur Adventure zone are nearly ready, residents of Dubai were sent on a weekend-long hunt for this escaped dinosaur. Great photo-led campaign.
1. Nākd bare all on an edible billboard – post by Rich Leigh & Co’s Lydia Bryant
Nākd, a wholefood snack food brand, created a 5m x 2m edible billboard in London’s Shepherd’s Bush Westfield shopping centre. The very fact this is so high in the list just goes to how hungry and overworked PRs are. Feed your staff, bosses, for Christ’s sake.
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