| Title | ST. PAULI PEEBACK |
| Brand | IG ST. PAULI |
| Product/Service | PUBLIC AWARENESS |
| Category |
A06. Use of Ambient Media: Large Scale |
|
Entrant Company
|
PUBLICIS PIXELPARK Hamburg, GERMANY
|
|
Advertising Agency
|
PUBLICIS PIXELPARK Hamburg, GERMANY
|
|
Production Company
|
MARKENFILM CROSSING Hamburg, GERMANY
|
Credits
| Timm Weber |
Publicis Pixelpark |
Executive Creative Director |
| Philipp Hentges |
Publicis Pixelpark |
Creative Director |
| Felipe Franco |
Publicis Pixelpark |
Creative Director |
| Nicole Grupski |
Publicis Pixelpark |
Account Manager |
| Axel Halasz |
Publicis Pixelpark |
Art Director |
| Oliver Hack |
Markenfilm Crossing Gmbh |
Executive Producer |
| Susan Barenberg |
Markenfilm Crossing Gmbh |
Producer |
| Max Kempe |
Virus |
Camera |
| Alexander Steinhoff |
Virus |
Film Director |
| Hannes Hönemann |
Infected Postproduction Gmbh |
Music/Sound |
Brief Explanation
With over 20 million visitors, St. Pauli, Hamburg, is one of Germany’s most famous party districts. Public urination is locally considered an enormous problem, ruins the district’s image and pisses off residents. St. Pauli’s Community of Interest (IG St. Pauli e.V.) asked us for a non-bureaucratic solution that fits the area.
Right at place of the incidents, we provided the solution and made our message clear: We applied super-hydrophobic coating to highly frequented walls in the neighborhood. The coating is so water-repellent that urine splashes back. This makes for wet pants and shoes – and turns walls into interactive direct-response media.
Results and Effectiveness
Residents reported that the number of peeing incidents hasn’t only reduced where walls had been coated.
The action’s video acquired over 4,000,000 YouTube clicks and became global news.
International press coverage, television broadcasts, blog posts and social network attention led to over 200 million global media impressions.
This created enormous publicity for the area, its people and the Community of Interests. We led to a worldwide fun and engaging discussion. Countless Memes on social platforms followed.
Many large events inquired, such as the Oktoberfest. Australia and India are discussing whether to pee back, too.
The coating’s manufacturer sold out in Germany.
Creative Execution
The super-hydrophobic coating turns the walls from being a disgusting problem – into an unexpected solution.
The campaign’s effect was maximized by putting up warning signs (“Don’t pee here. We pee back.”), making it unpredictable where walls would pee back and where they wouldn’t, and causing further discussion.
The action was documented with a video that, with zero media budget and zero seeding, quickly became viral and global news.
Insights, Strategy and the Idea
20 million visitors come to St. Pauli in Hamburg, Germany, every year. They all love the district’s rough charm. Naturally, they go out to drink – and often have one too many. Which makes them pee wherever they like. This ruins the district’s image and is a never-ending, ever-smelling annoyance to local residents.
We interviewed residents, spoke to officials, and found out where the most-frequented walls are. We then applied a super-hydrophobic coating to these walls, as well as warning signs.