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8 Outrageous Guerilla Ads

8 Outrageous Ads That Grab Your Attention
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Billboards and display advertising have become so much a feature of our daily lives, it's easy to ignore them amid the general clutter.

Which is why more attention-grabbing techniques have caught on in the promotion world, all of which can be covered with the term "guerilla advertising." These unconventional stunts aim to be interactive, thought-provoking, or downright weird - whatever it takes to get your attention and make you remember the brand or product it's promoting.

In an exclusive excerpt from Gavin Lucas' new book, "Guerilla Advertising 2" (Laurence King, $40), here are some of the wildest recent marketing campaigns from around the world:

Guerrilla advertising
T-Mobile(01 of08)
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Supporting cellphone company T-Mobile's slogan, "Life's for Sharing," their ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi organized a guerilla flash mob in London's Liverpool Street Station. Dozens of dancers disguised as typical passengers broke out into a medley of dance floor beats. This, along with the reactions from the genuine commuters, were turned into a popular TV commercial.
Up(02 of08)
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To help promote Disney Pixar's animated film, "Up," in which a retired balloon salesman sets off on an aerial adventure when he tethers thousands of balloons to his house, UK-based agency Beatwax, came up with the idea for a hot air balloon that would look just like the house from the film. It promoted the film in the UK, France, Germany and Italy.
adidas(03 of08)
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If you travelled to Munich for the first game of the FIFA World Cup in 2006, chances are you saw this huge installation, which shows an enormous 213-foot Oliver Kahn (the German national team goalkeeper at the team) diving across the highway. It was the only piece of advertising that adidas conducted in Germany throughout the tournament. It was created by TBWA\Berlin.
McDonald's(04 of08)
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This giant dispenser - complete with real enormous napkins - appeared in Stockholm, Sweden. It was created by DDB, Stockholm to advertise McDonald's Big 'n' Juicy Burger.
Amnesty International(05 of08)
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Amazingly, this guerilla stunt by Serviceplan saw a real woman placed inside a transparent suitcase that was put onto busy luggage-claim carousels in two German airports. The luggage had two yellow stickers, one that clearly identified it as an Amnesty International campaign, and another that protested against human trafficking.
Illiterit(06 of08)
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Visitors at the Song Zhuang Art Gallery in Bejing were faced with a strange-looking artwork consisting of a circular area on the concourse, with a book in the center, surrounded by hundreds of shards of glass. A small plaque explains: "For millions of kids, education is out of reach."This advertisement by Ogilvy, Beijing was for Illiterit, an organization dedicated to highlighting the plight of millions of children who relocate with their migrant worker parents to China's big cities.
Coca Cola(07 of08)
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Designed by Cape Town-based creative consultancy Animal Farm, Cratefan was a 54-foot tall, 25-ton "fan man" made using 2,500 Coca Cola bottle crates. Cratefan appeared in Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, Johannesburg Central and also at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Flygbussarna Airport Coaches(08 of08)
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This enormous 79-foot installation is a bus made out of 50 cars was located next to the major highway connecting Stockholm and its main airport, Arlanda. The idea, created by Acne Advertising, was to persuade travelers to and from the airport to use the airport coach service rather than make the journey by car. After all, which is better: 50 passengers on a bus, or 50 cars on the road?

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