New Media... Guaranteed to Generate Buzz!

Ya never know what can come next but truly this has crossed my mind. Honest! But I was younger, likely seeking inspiration in a state of panic, likely under the influence of pressure... likely under the... never mind... you know the kind. The CD walks in, "if you guys don't give me something unique, different, never been done before (he couldn't stopped at just unique) that capture the audience in millisecond and don't be stupid!", you're all fired. Hmmmmm.... I grew up on the Jersey shore, so flying banners on the back bi-planes all summer long was normal, I quickly state; "...okay client's message on the tales of flies... it's unique, never been done before, certainly different... won't be easy"... Room goes silent... "I said nothing stupid, besides how would we get flies to agree, and you now media department wants measurement". NEXT!

Imagine painstakingly attaching a tiny banner ad to flies and hope that it will generate a buzz. Sorry, me bad... pun!

In Germany, a book company, Eichborn, decided to think beyond the booth at the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair. The advertising stunt they concocted though is something that, uh, flies in the face of convention. Ooooops... Me bad... pun number 2.

Eichborn’s “smallest commercial gimmick in the world” was simple: attach physical banner ads to actual flies. Yes, somehow they tied small red "Eichborn" banner ads to flies and let them loose in the Frankfurt Book Fair. The result was flying advertising that nobody could miss... and likely paranoid with with the H1N1 issue. really, the world is in a bit of panic. We are all fearful of what flies carry.
The banners, measuring just a few centimeters across, they seem to be cause the flies a bit of piloting trouble. The weight keeps the flies at a lower altitude and forces them to rest more often, which is a stroke of genius on the part of the marketing creatives: the flies end up at about eye level, and whenever a fly is forced to land and recover, the banner is clearly visible. What's more, the zig-zagging of the fly naturally attracts the attention because of its rapid movement. Brilliant!

With some certainty, I assume the flies didn’t appreciate the extra weight, but without question you must give it to Eichborn for its creativity. But, let's hope that the "fly ads" don’t become something of a trend, imagine attending a conferences just to be pestered by branded insects.

With the number of Canadian geese about migrate south, think of it... "Tourism Canada" or our truly national product "Tim Horton's", "sponsoring the flocks of migrating birds? Hmmmm.... It just could be a way to advertise internationally.

Of course this all gets called into question, how long before Peta and I gather there is no Peti get involved.