Friday, March 21, 2008
Moonvertising: Rolling Rock Advertising on the Moon
Moonvertising involves shining a powerful laser at the moon and projected an advertising message that can be seen from around the world. Coca-Cola tried to do it in 1999 as the millennium approached, but the FAA was worried about interference with aircraft (i.e. "cutting flying airplanes in half").
Now, Rolling Rock Beer has announced plans to broadcast their corporate logo at the moon on March 21, 2008. Of course, they won't really do it even though moonvertising is technically feasible. It's just part of their viral marketing campaign to get people to check out their website.
On the website, you can leave messages of your own on the faux moon for other visitors to read. You can also watch videos and download a presentation from Ron Stablehorn, a fake advertising executive, on moonvertising.
The Boston Globe notes:
The brainchild of the advertising firm Goodby, Silverstein and Partners, the billboard directs curious consumers to a website for Rolling Rock beer, where an elaborate back story is spun about the campaign, featuring a faux vice president for marketing and a gimmick that lets viewers write their own ad on a screen version of the moon. To repeat: This is viral advertising; the company isn't actually going to project a laser beam 237,000 miles into space. Still, this spoof comes a little too close for comfort. With all nature merely a canvas, cloudvertising, lakevertising, and beachvertising are probably already on someone's drawing board.
Labels: Technology
