3 Sizzling PR Stunts from June
The sun is shining, the evenings are balmy, footie is on the TV and BBQ season is well underway: Summer is officially here.
The long-awaited summer sun has put the UK in a good mood, and brands have been piggybacking on the good feeling with some light-hearted PR stunts. Here are a few of our favourites from June:
Tic Tac celebrates its 50th anniversary with a sweet interactive pop-up
To celebrate 50 years as a household brand, Tic Tac launched an interactive ‘Open House’ pop-up experience in Covent Garden. The mint brand gave fans the opportunity to peek into the archives and discover what has made it a household name over the years. Visitors could also create their very own packet of Tic Tacs from a range of flavours, including Fresh Mint, Orange, Passion Fruit and Cherry Cola. And the most creative flavour combination was shared with Tic Tac’s research and development team for future innovation.
The taste experience continued over at the ‘Mixers’ cocktail bar, where guests enjoyed mouth-watering cocktails inspired by Tic Tac’s famous flavours. There was also a GIF booth, where visitors were encouraged to shake their Tic Tacs at the camera and share the images on social media, for a chance to win tickets to the Elrow music festival. Needless to say, the pop-up was a big hit. The combination of free stuff and the immersive brand experience was a winning one. The pop-up attracted a fair bit of online coverage too.
Footballing royalty pranks amateur five-a-side team
An amateur football team from London got the shock of their lives when Rio Ferdinand, Michael Ballack, Michel Salgado and Rivaldo were substituted on to the pitch to play against them during a local five-a-side match. Hidden cameras captured the moment when the football superstars took on a team of local lads in a friendly game.
The international stars staged the prank with the help of bookmakers Betfair, in a nod to the World Cup.
The PR stunt was set in motion after a number of local teams responded to cryptic DIY posters created by the legends inviting teams to take them on. The mysterious posters gave little information apart from making a number of outrageous claims, such as: this team is ‘proper class’ and has scored ‘100s of goals all over the world’. After an influx of amateur teams responded to the ad, the former international players picked a team to stage the prank on.
The chosen team turned up for the game to be greeted by a squad of overweight, middle-aged 50-year olds. Ten minutes into the game, the older players were in dire need of a break. The goalkeeper hailed over the substitutes, at which point the international sensations ran on to the pitch.
The amateur players’ reactions were priceless as their childhood heroes demonstrated their world-class skills.
This light-hearted, topical campaign got a lot of attention from the consumer and trade press. And it’s no surprise. Feel-good campaigns that pull on the heart strings are always winners.
Couples say ‘I dough’ with Villa Italian’s pizza bouquets
New York pizza chain Villa Italian Kitchen celebrated the start of the wedding season in unique style. The pizzeria worked with top New York food stylist Jessie Bearden to create hand-crafted pizza wedding bouquets, which, from a distance looked exactly like real flowers. Each bouquet was made entirely of bite-sized slices, and decorated with ingredients such as tomatoes and pepperoni.
The unique bouquets were created as a competition prize. To be in with a chance of winning, couples were invited to enter details about their wedding on the pizzeria’s website. Winners were then picked at random to receive their unusual bouquet, along with a matching edible boutonniere for the groom.
Entrants who missed out on the bouquets still walked away with a wedding present, in the form of a coupon for a free slice of pizza at the restaurant. Villa Italian Kitchen was inundated with competition entrants who got the attention of the press. This led to some tasty PR, and plenty of fast food puns.
Weddings are becoming less traditional, so maybe we’ll all be carrying pizza bouquets up the aisle on our big day before long. One thing’s for sure; it’ll save money on the wedding breakfast.
Thanks for reading. It means a lot. Follow me for more of the same. And come and say hi on Twitter or LinkedIn!
This article was originally published on the PR Superstar website.
