Steal This Chair

As these things go, the recent “viral” campaign for Blu Dot, a New York-based furniture store, is among the most clever advertising stunts we’ve ever heard of. Dreamed up by advertising agency Mono, the idea was to place 25 “Real Good Chairs” in places all over Manhattan. If someone just leaves something somewhere, hey, “curb-mining” is fair game, right? Sort of, but this time there were strings attached … well not exactly strings, more like a GPS!

From Media Creativity:

Each chair was GPS-equipped, allowing Mono to track the chair’s location and pay a visit to the chairs’ new owners. Can you imagine taking a chair off the sidewalk and having someone ring your doorbell to inquire about the chair? An eight-minute-long documentary was created that chronicled the chairs’ initial drop off, patient cameramen waiting on nearby buildings for someone to take the chairs and visits to the homes of those who took a chairs.

According to Michael Hart, creative director and co-founder of Mono, each chair was valued at $129 and equipped with a cell phone with GPS software. This software is valued at $200, so do the math; the GPS software is worth more than the chair itself.

Mono’s biggest challenge was obtaining long-lasting battery life for the cell phone, something longer than 8 hours. Mono worked with technology consultant Tellart, who created an electrical switch to trigger the battery when the chair was picked up. Translated: the GPS was activated once the chair was on the move,

The folks who took the chairs home were tracked by the camera crews and later asked about their semi-illicit hauls. Some were surprised and startled that they’d been followed; others wondered if they’d snagged (read: stolen) someone else’s chair. Most, however, got the joke, allowed the crews into their homes and sat for an interview.

Cross posting this from Brand X