The Internet is for interaction, right? And mobile phones are interactive devices, too? And advertising is most efficient if people get involved? Well,
Gardena, international manufacturer of gardening equipment, has taken these lessons very seriously. At the Dortmund main train station in Germany the company has installed a huge interactive outdoor poster. Either by sending an SMS (phone text message) or by pulling the trigger at
the poster's website, you can activate a giant sprinkler and surprise (and soak) passers-by. Nice idea? Think twice: It's raining in Germany theses days!
These kind of "interactive advertising" gimmicks seems to be a new trend, at least here in Germany. So far I've seen posters that will show additional information or make the people on the screen do funny things only if you send an SMS to a certain number. The sprinkler is the most intrusive example I've seen so far (and it is supposed to keep on spouting for another two weeks).
What fun! From my desk in Colorado I got some...
