With 2016 well underway, we decided to look back over some of the weirdest, wackiest and most wonderful PR stunts that were pulled off across the globe in 2015.
As PR professionals, it was a tough choice but we managed to narrow it down to our favourite 10…
Kiwi Birthday!
As a team of travel lovers, we were totally won over by Air New Zealand’s 75th birthday celebrations. The airline marked the occasion by teaming up with STA Travel to offer 100 return flights for £75. People went crazy for the offer with some even camping outside STA’s London Victoria branch for two days to snag cheap tickets. With 50 on sale in store and the rest available over the phone and on social media, those keen to bag a bargain needed to act fast!
White Walker Invasion
Commuters were left bemused and probably a little frightened when terrifying White Walkers from Game of Thrones invaded London in June. Looking to celebrate the digital release of season four, White Walkers could be seen hopping on buses, navigating the underground and even stopping traffic on Tower Bridge!
T-Rex Autopsy
Another favourite for us and another confusing morning for commuters, as many were left perplexed after seeing a life-size T-Rex being driven through the streets of London. As the world’s first full sized anatomically complete recreation of a T-Rex, the bewildering scene was to mark National Geographic’s TV special of an authentic dinosaur autopsy.
Just another day, or is it?
In a bid to beat a recent decline in sales, McDonalds pulled off a PR stunt that put them firmly back on the map. Randomly picking the 24 March, McDonalds placed 24 gifts of joy across 24 cities in 24 hours. Popping up across the globe these gifts of joy included a fast food photobooth in Tokyo that dispensed free McDonalds meals, a ball pit which masqueraded as a giant cup of coffee in Sydney and even a surprise performance by Jessie J on the McDonalds Boom Bus in the streets of London. Are you lovin’ it?
Have you got your Alibi?
We loved the rebrand of UKTV crime channel, Alibi, who decided to recreate a crime scene in London’s South Bank. Their stunt just happened to include a 2 metre high replica of a human skull casually being examined by forensic scientists.
#LiveColourful
Our Director, Sarah, loves black and white movies, so it’s no surprise this was a winner. To promote their range of ciders, Bulmers created a black and white pop up bar, with everything from walls to ping pong tables and even staff painted grey. The only colour allowed was Bulmers’ colourful range of ciders and the lucky people dropping in for a drink!
Floating houses
To celebrate the Deregulation Act – which now allows home owners in London to rent rooms for up to 90 days without getting fined – AirBnB pulled off a spectacular PR stunt by floating a two-bedroom house down the Thames. Docking at Putney Pier, AirBnB encouraged people to enter a competition to win an overnight stay. All entrants needed to do was to sum up in a few sentences where they would like to go if the floating house could take them anywhere in the world!
Lose the war paint
The girls in our team loved Neutrogena’s stunt with Caras Magazine, which allowed buyers to remove the make up on the cover girl’s face with Neutrogena’s Deep Clean face wipes, which came with the magazine when purchased. We’ll be investing in some of those!
Free wifi anyone?
‘Shadow Wifi’ was launched by Happiness Brussels to raise awareness of skin cancer. Keen to encourage beach-goers to stay in the shade during the hours when the sun is at its strongest, Happiness Brussels built a giant blue box in the middle of a Peruvian beach, which contained a directional antenna. But why? Well, this special antenna meant that only those who stood in the shade offered by the giant box could have access to free wifi. As the shade moved with the sun, so did the free wifi connection. Clever, right?
Drinkable billboards
If you thought Coke Zero’s drinkable billboard was good, wait til you see Carlsberg’s! Found on Brick Lane, Carlsberg created a billboard that dispensed free cold pints of Carlsberg and simply read ‘probably the best poster in the world’, which we believe is probably true!
