Who says the mundane tasks of our lives can’t be spiced up a little bit? The people at Volkswagen clearly have the creativity to do just that. After the wildly popular Fun Theory experiment, Volkswagen has now rolled out its sister campaign, the Fast Lane Theory. Life is always a little more fun in the fast lane, doesn’t it seem? Even better when you’re cruising in a Volkswagen on the Autobahn in Germany.

In the Alexanderplatz subway station in Berlin, Volkswagen constructed a slide to run the length of the stairway so that when walkers approached at the top of the stairs they had 2 options: a) take the stairs allll the way down or b) zip down the slide in 2 seconds. What would you pick? Check out the excitement that ensues.

In another unexpected place, the grocery store, the genius VW people assembled a grocery cart with a skateboard attached to the bottom, just under the handlebar. Think back to what you did as a kid (which most likely drove your mom crazy): run with the cart, jump on the bottom shelf and coast down the aisles, narrowly missing the four foot high display of paper towels at the end or the elderly lady reaching for the sugar on the top shelf. The reactions are the greatest part of the experiment, in my opinion. There were some people who were a tad confused by all the fun during such a boring chore as grocery shopping and others totally embraced the fast lane. Either way, we applaud Volkswagen for bringing out the kid in everyone again.

Across the pond, a VW competitor has also created a promotion gimmick this summer. Volvo is working to bring back the essence of movie drive-ins, only this time with all Volvo cars provided. You don’t even need a driver’s license! Dubbed the “Volvo Starlite Urban Drive-In”, Volvo has picked the cultural Truman Brewery in London to host the event. Once you’ve booked your tickets, pick out one of the 25 Volvos on location to pack in with a friend – 2 per car – and enjoy the movie on screen, whether it is Dirty Dancing or Grease. You can’t go wrong with Johnny Castle’s twisting hips or Danny Zuko’s retro leather jacket. Feeling hungry? Order some popcorn from one of the waitresses zipping through the lot on her roller skates. The Starlite’s success was so overwhelming (tickets sold out in less than a minute!) the creators are considering packing up and taking the event nationwide.

In fact, a Corona bottle was placed right in the middle of the party, towering at 30 feet tall! Too bad it is only an inflatable promo item… There were also Corona brand ambassadors – some even (semi) famous – including Real Housewife of New York City, Kelly Bensimon, mingling all over the scene. The Corona sponsored event lasts through July 31^st.  

The “pop-up beach” is the biggest summer launch for Corona Extra and Corona Light. Parent company, Crown Imports, reported that media coverage has been provided by ESPN2’s “SportsNation”, local news, and online outlets in the States, Mexico and Japan. Other promotional giveaways at the party include sunscreen, bead necklaces, and key chains. But to win one of the 100 trips to Cancun, you better start looking for one of the 2,000 Corona bottles donning a promotional wrap that includes an entry code for chances to win online. Looks like summer is here early, and what better way to celebrate than with a Corona and lime? Better start drinking!

Well, you can’t blame the Captain for trying.

According to Media Life, Captain Morgan came up with a plan to get NFL players to pose in the iconic Captain’s stance (knee up, hand on knee, other hand on hip… assuming you’re short a sword) after scoring a touchdown. In return? The rum company would donate $10,000 to the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund for each player who struck a pose during regular season, $25,000 during playoffs and $100,000 during the Super Bowl. Not a bad deal considering 30-second TV spots can cost millions and still don’t generate buzz like many guerrilla advertising stunts do.

Unfortunately, Philadelphia Eagles tight end Brent Celek got a little too eager and decided to pull out the move in a game against Dallas nearly a week before the campaign was supposed to kick off. Although the cameras caught it all and Captain Morgan still got its moment in the end zone, the NFL jumped on it almost immediately in an attempt to safeguard existing agreements and sponsorships. So even though there will be no more celebrating with the Captain during game time, it was still a great plan and even succeeded in creating the buzz it set out to.

This summer marks the beginning of an exciting & life-changing annual fundraiser here in Columbus, Ohio. Pelotonia, founded and funded by NetJets, is the grass roots bike tour raising money for cancer research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute. In fact, 100% of funds raised go directly to cancer research at The James!

So what does this have to do with out-of-home advertising? In a (successful) attempt to get its message out to the community, Pelotonia literally dominated the out-of-home industry here in Columbus using media ranging from empty storefront ads and floor graphics to street furniture and digital signage. Ads were placed along busy highways, around the Ohio State University campus area (home to thousands of students & businesses), and the Arena District (home to many young — and young-at-heart — professionals and businesses, not to mention our Columbus Clippers baseball team & Columbus Blue Jackets hockey team).

The most impressive of all, perhaps, is the domination of the Columbus airport by Pelotonia & The James. The images below explain the campaign’s effectiveness better than words. Quality, quantity and, most of all, creativity made this effort impossible to miss.

The bike tour takes place this weekend, consisting of four routes spanning 25, 50, 100 and 180 miles. Over 2,100 people have committed to riding–including Lance Armstrong!

If you’re interested in contributing, please check out our DOmedia peloton where you can donate to our ride up until October 31st. Every donation helps!

Last week, DOmedia had the opportunity to attend the AAAA Media Conference and Tradeshow in New Orleans (tough break, we know).  And while attendance may have been down from previous years, creativity and morale were still very high over at the DOmedia booth!

Between the many compliments on the overall visual presentation and the overwhelmingly positive feedback on the website capabilities, the 4A’s tradeshow was an official success!  Making its world debut on Wednesday morning, the new DO booth (A.K.A. DO erector set) attracted attendees to take a test drive of the site using our two 22″ monitors.  Of course, the infamous orange DOmedia yo-yo’s may have helped drive traffic just a bit, too.  Everywhere you looked, orange dots could be seen flying through the air, attendees rekindling their childhood yo-yo skills.  (And a personal thanks to everyone who trained me in the art of yo-yo over the three days–I can finally walk the dog!)

On Tuesday night, we had the great pleasure of sponsoring the Director’s Dinner at the Hilton where conversation consisted of trends in out-of-home and alternative media as well as an update on how DOmedia has grown since it was last introduced to the 4A’s.  Thank you again to everyone who attended!

And congratulations once again to all the DOmedia contest winners and a huge thanks for your support!  Participants received entry tickets by coming by the booth, wearing a DOmedia button, or following us on Twitter to name a few.  Several exciting prizes were given out such as iPod Touches, iPod Shuffles, and numerous iTunes gift cards!

Check out the rest of our pics from the tradeshow on our Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/10211400@N08/sets/72157615079096686/

New this year at midnight, Times Square will rain hopes and dreams—literally. The Mars brand’s newest candy bar, 3 Musketeers Mint, is sponsoring a Wishing Wall for people to submit their resolutions, goals, and hopes for 2009. The messages will then be printed on tiny pieces of paper and dropped over Times Square at midnight, showering New York City with over a ton of wish-covered confetti. Wishes can be submitted online at http://www.timessquarenyc.org/nye/nye_interactive.html or in person at the Times Square Information Center.

Echoing Mars’ upbeat tempo is Pepsi’s new ad campaign focused on youthful optimism that will blanket the billboards of NYC. The campaign, titled Wordplay, creates uplifting words out of the brand’s redesigned logo. As part of the NYE festivities, the company will unleash one thousand balloons (complete with new Pepsi logo, of course) on Times Square minutes before midnight. Stuck at home for New Year’s? You can still be a part of the action by texting “Change”, along with your own message of optimism, to 66333 where it could appear on MTV’s Times Square screen or in their coverage of the celebration.

Not to be outdone, JVC’s iconic (and newly designed) digital billboard will also allow partygoers to take pics from their cell phones and upload them to nyc@jvcnewyear.com. Once approved, they will display for three seconds on JVC’s 19- by 34-foot high-def screen.

With luck, the hope and happiness theme will carry through the coming year, lifting our spirits (and possibly the economy) along the way. Happy 2009!

For anyone new to Skybus, the airline is a Columbus-based low-cost carrier currently serving 14 markets nationwide. They launched the company back in November 2006 with their first flights taking off in the spring of ’07. Billing themselves at the “next-generation low cost carrier” allows them to think – and act – outside the box…including looking for non-traditional revenue streams. By offering up both traditional and non-traditional marketing opportunities to advertisers, the airline can offer low fares (as low as $10 per ticket) while keeping their investors happy.

Chances are good that you’ll begin to see branding messages popping up on other carriers as well. Ryanair, Europe’s leading low-cost carrier, has successfully offered up advertising opportunities on their planes to offset operating expenses. A handful of US carriers are reportedly considering the option as well, as their P&L statements continue to take a beating.

While we’re definitely excited to see such a unique alternative medium hitting the marketplace, we also want to give kudos to Nationwide for, once again, kicking typical financial services marketing to the curb. From Kevin Federline TV spots to wallscapes that continue onto the parking lot below, their innovative approach to brand messaging continues to impress us and keep us waiting for more.

While the journalists affected argue the issue of bias, there’s also a pretty basic question of money. I may be out of line here, but somehow I don’t think the NFL is sharing their sponsorship revenue with the newspapers or photographers affected. Plus, making matters slightly worse, by requiring these reporters to wear vests emblazoned with the NFL sponsors, the league is effectively eliminating the papers’ or individuals’ right to make their own deals and generate additional revenue streams.

Which brings us back to the original question: exactly how far can an organization go when declaring possession of people, places or things? And then selling them to someone else…