Moonvertising

Moonvertising??? Huh? That's what I said when I saw this billboard on my way to work a couple of months ago. I didn't know what to make of it so I naturally visited the website (DING DING! they got me this far). Moonvertising is Rolling Rock beer's newest campaign to break through the clutter by using a "super" laser to put their logo on the moon where there is obviously no Budweiser logos yet (not that they would care since Rolling Rock is an Anheuser Busch owned beer as well). I personally think this is hilarious. I immediately called all my friends to tell them about it and they just sneered and told me how disgusting my field is. "Advertising is taking over the moon now? All you marketers should burn in hell."

OK, noted. So maybe some romantic, beach-loving hippies don't want their moon tampered with but I thought it was cynically original. I told some of my fellow classmates about it and we were all excited about the big day. Someone from my class said they would be pretty disappointed she would miss the "light show" since she was going out of town only to soon be rudely awoken by the reality that the moon is indeed everywhere. In that fact lies the ethical problem regarding the campaign. Should the moon be fair game for marketers? The question I noticed that came from most people I told was not whether this event was even possible but whether this event was even morally right. Not to say that I didn't get the "this can't be real and you're crazy" comment as well but the majority of people just thought advertisers should not have the right to pollute the sky with our manipulative tactics. Of course, I didn't care because I am well aware of people's defense tactics towards marketing messages and I got ready during the full moon to watch the comic book like laser fill the moon with the Rolling Rock logo.

Oh my God, I am such an idiot. You got it. My cell phone was overloaded with messages explaining how much of a moron I was for thinking this was even plausible. i don't know, the little kid amazement hidden in me wanted to believe this was possible, even though I did think that owning space on the moon would probably be a serious international political issue. Regardless of my disappointment, Rolling Rock's campaign worked. I immediately visited the site expecting to see an apology, which I did indeed see. It was a video of a mock attempt gone wrong followed by a message to watch their next attempt on the next full moon. The spoof was funny. Their next attempt was even funnier. Mt. Fiji expoloding due to this idiot marketers idea to advertise on the moon had me cracking up.

The concept is great. It is a completely absurd idea that is so outside the box that it must be recognized. The protagonist of the campaign is a fictional VP of Marketing for Rolling Rock who is very over-the-top very much like Michael Scott from The Office. The website is great because it is interactive and lets you put your own message on the moon as well as see where there are Full Moon parties being hosted. It is hard to identify what target Rolling Rock is hoping to market to with this campaign but I think this campaign has a lot more to do with brand awareness than with anything else. Trust me, I probably won't be forgetting Rolling Rock beer ever again. The truth is it's just a lot easier to say "Let me have a Bud."