January 11, 2018

Urine Luck

Ikea peeIkea pee

Or, perhaps, it’s just an ad campaign.

Ah yes … technology at its highest calling and delivering the best. A newspaper insert treated to indicate pregnancy if peed on. “Widdle here, get a discounted crib” is the pitch. And … goes on to note the estimable Guardian … that they’re not even the first with this, er, novel – channel? tactic? Perhaps we should not be surprised that gamers were a previous, as the makers themselves put it, captive audience.

I particularly found the guy who said “I’d be ‘all over that’ as being refreshingly honest … indeed he - and many others would ….. judging by the state of most male public urinals.

Oh - and in this enlightened age of the #METOO movement … do the ladies not get to compete on the slalom”?

“What the London-based company has built is a digital advertising display meets game console we’re calling the urinal entertainment system. Think of it as a Xbox, but with more urine and no game controllers. That’s right, it’s pee-controlled gaming, and the company just raised $700,000 from U.K. investors to keep its business flowing (sorry for that). The urinal entertainment system, or UES if you will, is mounted at eye level right above the urinal and uses an LCD screen that merrily loops videos and advertisements until you walk up to the porcelain. Once you pause in front of the fixture long enough to unzip, it’s game on.”

Wired

Now, is it just me, or does the thought of peeing on electronics give rise to an odd frisson, or at least a pause for thought?

But wait, there’s more. It seems that even they were not the first. That honor goes to Animal Planet, way back in 2001.

To get the attention of dog owners, the network’s U.K. channel is first going after dogs—by affixing ads that give off a dog urine scent to the foot of lampposts. When the pooch comes over for a sniff, the owner sees a larger ad above promoting Animal Planet’s new dog awards show. 

“We’ve identified the ‘cocked-leg market,’” says Ed Staples, a spokesman for London PR shop Red Consultancy whose proper English accent makes it kind of comical whenever he says “dog urine,” which these days is quite often.

AdWeek

Ah, the sacrifices merchandisers and marketers make for their clients.

Still, there is this ….

My point holds …. advertising is generally ‘piss poor’

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