The Future of Ads

Setting or breaking a world record is a sure-fire way of getting your product some press, but how do you decide which record to break?

For most companies, the decision is easy: Just make your product as big as it can be, and then send out the press release.

For Example: The world’s largest Lego structure towered more than 95 feet above the ground, the world’s largest lollipop is currently a 4,016-pound Jolly Rancher, and the world’s largest smoothie was set by Booster Juice when they dumped 195 gallons of smoothie into a bucket.

However, these records are so common and so easy to break that you probably won’t hear about most of them unless you live in the town they are broken in, or you follow Guinness World Records updates religiously.

To make a statement, you need to go beyond just creating something that claims to be the world’s largest, and create something that relates to your customers on a deeper level.

For Example: Asics created the ‘World’s Largest Lite-Brite Image’, and brought back plenty of childhood memories with the long lost toy.

The image, which used 347,004 original size pegs and spanned 9 feet by 14 feet, showed the Gel-Lyte III trainer in original Hasbro Lite-Brite colors, and was the perfect match for Asics’ retro styling that they’re so famous for.

Rather than just thinking larger, Asics thought creatively and came up with a concept that not only wows with its sheer size, but woos with its retro throwback to a happier time.

The Good:

• Guaranteed publicity.
• Widespread appeal.
• Internal morale booster.

The Bad:

• Crowded arena makes it tough to stand out.
• Can be difficult to organize.
• No direct link to sales.

The Future:

• Creative world records are a fun and easy way to advertise your product to a huge audience, but make sure your effort isn’t wasted on a copycat idea.

Guinness World Records – Largest Lite-Brite image

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