Opportunists pilfer expensive delights from plinth
Everyone loves free stuff. Especially women, it seems, as a new campaign that tests what lengths the ladies will go to to get their hands on some of the world’s most coveted items has shown.
The launch campaign of Sweet Nothings, a new low-fat ice cream from Much Moore, was created by Lachlan McPherson, creative director of Publicis Loft (his new arm of Publicis Mojo), and revolves around the idea that women find it difficult to resist temptation.
“We wanted to find out whether New Zealand women could trust themselves around things that they desire, like shoes, earrings and ice cream,” he says. “We thought it would be interesting to start that conversation.”
So, to test the theory, a billboard that said ‘Manolo Blahniks. Size 8′ was erected on College Hill road on Monday morning and a real pair of US$850 Manolos were placed on a plinth, ready to be snatched away.
The opportunists at the Media Counsel hauled their own ladder over and the very practical ladies then sent up one of their men-folk to collect the shoes, just three hours after they were put up (the shoes are now on Trade Me and the money will go to charity).
So it shows that women definitely can’t be trusted, but as McPherson says, it also shows that men can be trusted to do whatever women tell them to do.
The theory was tested again this morning when a pair of Tiffany & Co. diamond earrings went up on the plinth. And suspicions were confirmed once again: the ladies from the Media Counsel were waiting, swooping in and getting their mits on the earrings just 20 minutes after they went up.
McPherson says he was taken by surprise with how quickly the shoes and earrings were nabbed. He expected them to stay up on the plinth for a week or so, which has meant the whole process has had to be sped up.
In fact, the tradesman responsible for setting up the security cameras in the billboard called him on Monday morning and said there were already a group of people milling around the billboard prodding the shoes with sticks soon after they were put up. As a result, the security cameras that were meant to capture the daring heist weren’t installed in the billboard until later that day.
But he’s been pleasantly surprised with the public response to the social experiment, particularly from the blogging community.
Sweet Nothings ice-cream will be the next offering on the ‘interactive’ billboard, but there will also be plenty of giveaways.
LP
December 1, 2009
If I've read the story properly, it shoots itself in the foot (no pun intended). So, for two mornings in a row, 'the opportunist ladies from the Media Counsel' were on the ladder and lifting the goodies?
What about the general public, the people the campaign is supposedly aimed at? Is this campaign just aimed at those in the industry?
Amanda
December 1, 2009
Just to clarify, the earrings aren't going on trademe, just the Manolo's. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=257261626
Tee
December 1, 2009
We've been following the action over at nzgirl and have a year's supply of Sweet Nothings to giveaway as well – http://nzgirl.co.nz/articles/13045
Vincent Heeringa
December 1, 2009
I'm officially available as a giveaway to the readers at nzgirl too.*
* Conditions apply
Tee
December 1, 2009
Be careful what you wish for Vincent!
Glenda Wynyard
December 2, 2009
You should be aware that money raised from the sale of the shoes is going to our charity this year … we are collecting for the Salvation Army. This is part of our annual drive and we would be more than happy to collect anything that any of the media owners, the agencies or their clients have to contribute. SA have an empty warehouse that is normally full this time of the year and they are desperate for anything they can get – ice cream would be a welcome treat for many.
By the way … TMC hasn't had anything to do with this stunt, our offices just happen to be quite close and one of our team was quick enough to ask the installers what it was going on. Two mornings in a row different staff members have managed to make the best of this "pr stunt"; not the fault of the PR agency and Lachlan MacPherson, nor TMC.
Michelle
December 4, 2009
Just an aside…I'd say this "experiment" is culturally specific, and that in Melbourne you'd get a diffferent result.
Over here, people seem less likely to take things!
Hard to believe, in a bigger place… but for example, there are no cages over motorbike shop windows in the city; people park their Vespas outside their homes without them being stolen and I've even seen leather jackets and wallets left unattended at pubs. Quite a different mindset!
Gerry Kookmeyer
December 4, 2009
This billboard campaign will fly over the head of 99% of people. I passed that billboard every day and wondered if it was some kind of teaser campaign without having any idea of the brand behind it. You can't even tell from standing outside the supermarket that there is a small ledge there. The fact that ad industry insiders snapped up the freebies kind of says it all really, in terms of effectiveness, doesn't it? Having said this, I'm hardly the target demographic.
Tiana
December 4, 2009
@LP and Gerry – They're hardly 'insiders' – Media Counsel wasn't behind the PR and found out about the stunt the same way Joe Public would have heard – NZGirl, TVNZ Breakfast, and the Twitter-sphere. I certainly wasn't giving them a heads up!
As Glenda mentioned, the stunt was always going to favour those who had offices within a ladder-walking distance, whether they're in the ad industry or otherwise.
Glad to hear you drove past the billboard every day and wondered about it.
Gerry Kookmeyer
December 5, 2009
Tiana I didn't necessarily mean insiders on the job – more like ad people doing ads for other ad people. Don't you think it's just a little coincidental? Anyway, who cares.