30 Squats Can Earn You Subway Fare on the Moscow Subway

Sochi Olympics - Moscow Subway Squats

In less than 3 months the Russian city of Sochi will host the Winter Olympic Games.

To help promote the games, the Russian Olympic committee has installed a special ticket machine at the Vystavochaya subway station, west of Moscow. But unlike other machines, commuters can earn their ticket by doing 30 squats.

[via Sploid]

Russia

Argentine Football Player Deletes All of His 92,000 Twitter Followers for Nike Ad Campaign

Argentine Football Player Deletes Twitter Followers for Nike CampaignWith it’s growth as an important social media platform, people have done crazy things to build up the number of their Twitter followers.

Individuals and companies have been even known to purchase huge blocks of fake Twitter followers to try to bolster their social media credibility. Other individuals have deleted part or all of their following to try to reconnect with the audience that truly matters to them.

On August 16, Argentine soccer star Burrito Martinez of the Boca Juniors, surprised everyone by announcing, “Hoy dejé mis 92.112 seguidores para volvermelos a ganar jugando cada partido como el primer partido.”, which in English would read, “Today I erased my 92,112 followers with the idea of winning them back by playing every match as if it were my first.”

The bold move was part of a Nike ad campaign dubbed “Bautismo” (Baptism in English) in which the team were encouraged to play every game as if it was their first. Thanks to the publicity of his bold move, he immediately began to rebuild his Twitter following and has already attracted more than 45,000 followers in two weeks.

The campaign was created by BBDO Argentina.

[via The Denver Egotist]

Argentina

Derrick Rose Has Fans Jumping for Free Shoes at London Pop-Up Store

Adidas London - Jump Store

Earlier this month Chicago Bulls’ superstar Derrick Rose was travelling around Europe as part of Adidas’ “D-Rose Tour”. When the tour reached the UK, agency TBWA constructed a pop-up store in the London borough of Hackney stocked with hundreds of pairs of D Rose 3.5 shoes. (remember when we simply called these sneakers?)

To bring home a pair of shoes, the aspiring basketball players simply had to grab them off the shelf. However, the shelf was located high above the floor at the height of a basketball net.

[via The Denver Egotist]

UK

McDonald’s Salute Blackhawks’ Victory with Hockey Stick Fries Bus Shelter

McDonalds - Go Blackhawks

Ad agency Leo Burnett and the McDonald’s operators of Chicago and Northwest Indiana, unveiled a fitting tribute to the hometown Stanley Cup champions Chicago Blackhawks with a series of bus shelter displays featuring hockey sticks that looked like french fries. As part of the campaign the agency and McDonald’s will make a donation of hockey sticks to local youth hockey programs.

[via Chicago Business Journal]

USA

WWF Turns Soccer Field Brown to Create Awareness of Deforestation

WWF Soccer Field Deforestation

In Brazil an area the size of a soccer (football) field is cleared every 4 minutes.

The WWF collaborated with São Paulo ad agency Grey 141 came up with a very creative way to illustrate this shocking statistic.

For 4 minutes during the live TV broadcast of a game between the women’s national teams of Brazil and Denmark the lush green soccer field brown gradually turned brown.

[via Creative Criminals]

Brazil

German Charity MISEREOR Creates Realistic “Afrika Kicker” Foosball Game

MISEREOR - Afrika Kicker

Hamburg-based agency Kolle Rebbe has created an interactive donation box in the form of a foosball table for German charity MISEREOR, with the 2 euro donations going to benefit the children of Rwanda and South Africa.

But Afrika Kicker is not a typical Foosball table, with smooth uncluttered playing surface. Players challenge each other on a bumpy clay surface, and must negotiate obstacles like a tree and well hole, just like in some real African football matches.

Players can broadcast their Afrika Kicker match via a Livestream, or just keep their Facebook friends updated with the score.

[via Pull the Trigger]

Germany

Oreo, Audi and Tide Light-Up Twitter with Zingers During Super Bowl Blackout

Oreos - Tide - Super Bowl Blackout Response

It’s not a surprise that the social media teams of major brands were on high alert during Sunday’s Super Bowl. With investments in 30 second advertising spots running in the neighbourhood of $4 million during the broadcast, it was paramount that reaction to ads be tracked (and possibly responded to) in real-time.

When a blackout affected half the stadium in the third quarter, delaying the game was delayed for 34 minutes, a few savvy social media teams jumped into the fray with some witty, well-timed tweets.

Audi poked fun at fellow German automaker Mercedes-Benz, title sponsor of the New Orleans Superdome, posting, “Sending some LEDs to the @MBUSA Superdome right now…”. Over 9,000 retweets followed.

Tide responded with, “We can’t get your #blackout, but we can get your stains out. #SuperBowl #TidePower”, linking to an image associated with their Stain Saver campaign.

Probably the best response came from Oreo, “Power out?” Oreo posted to Twitter. “No problem. You can still dunk in the dark.”, with a link to an image of an Oreo lit up in a spotlight. The tweet went on to be retweeted 10,000 times within the next hour.

While the three brands mentioned here all invested heavily in their traditional spots, these off-handed remarks captured significant attention with those of us engaged with Twitter as a second screen experience.

[via Advertising Age]

Toronto Maple Leafs Invite Fans to “Break the Ice” for Free Signed Jerseys

Toronto Maple Leafs - Frozen Jersey

With the NHL lockout finally over after 625 lost regular-season games, the league is finally ready to get a shortened season underway this weekend. Teams around the league are eager to try to ease the bad feelings of some fans by offering everything from discounts on tickets and concessions, to free beer ‘samples’ from the Ottawa Senators. (Stop. You had me at ‘free beer’)

Here in Toronto, where there’s little doubt that fans will fill the Air Canada Centre tonight for the delayed season opener against the Montreal Canadians, the Maple Leafs organization had the city’s hockey fans abuzz with a unique promotion.

Autographed jerseys of Leafs stars were encased in blocks of ice and dropped off at 9 locations around Toronto. Fans were invited to keep the jerseys if they could get to them.

Canada

TSN Offers Early Morning Wake-up Calls for Canadian Jr. Hockey Fans

Molson Canadian World Jrs Wake-up CallWith the entire NHL hockey season on the verge of being cancelled, Canadian hockey fans are hyped and ready to get their hockey fix with the broadcast of the 2013 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.

The only drawback is that the tournament is being played in Ufa, Russia, which means that the games are set to start around 4am Canadian time.

To make sure hockey fans don’t miss the drop of the puck, they can use the ‘World Jr Wake-Up‘ to schedule a call from TSN Sportscentre host Jay Onrait.

The campaign was put together by Rethink Canada.

Canada

Dudes Promote Chasing Mavericks by Surfing the Wild Streets of Manhattan

Chasing Mavericks - Surfing NYC

Mavericks is a legendary surf location for the world’s best big wave surfers. Located about 2 miles offshore off Pillar Point Harbor in Northern California, the unique structure of the ocean floor there is capable or producing waves that can reach 80 feet in height after strong winter storms.

With ‘Chasing Mavericks‘, a movie based on the life of Maverick’s legend Jay Moriarity, starring Jonny Weston, Gerard Butler and Elizabeth Shue, set for release on October 26, two surfers on wheeled-motorized took to the streets and sidewalks on Manhattan to promote the movie.

The stunt was created by Thinkmodo, who also came up with the Zombie Experiment for AMC and a flying people illusion to promote the movie Chronicle.

[via Surfer Today]

USA