Title	ST. PAULI PEEBACK
Brand	IG ST. PAULI
Product/Service	PUBLIC AWARENESS
Category	C02. Use of Social in a PR campaign
Entrant Company	PUBLICIS PIXELPARK Hamburg, GERMANY
Advertising Agency	PUBLICIS PIXELPARK Hamburg, GERMANY
Production Company	MARKENFILM CROSSING Hamburg, GERMANY

Name	Company	Position
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

The Campaign

St. Pauli, Hamburg, is one of Germany’s most famous party districts and unique in its rough charm. The downside: “Wildpinklers” – the German term for drunks who simply pee wherever they please – are considered an inherent problem. Because they ruin the district’s image and piss off residents. That’s why St. Pauli’s Community of Interest (IG St. Pauli e.V.) asked us for an idea that was attention-grabbing and easy to execute. We solved this with a simple guerilla PR stunt right at place of the problem: By applying super-hydrophobic coating to highly frequented walls in the neighborhood. The coating is so water-repellent that urine splashes right back. This makes for wet pants and shoes. An idea so simple it could be picked up and continued by anyone in the neighborhood. The outcome: According to residents, peeing incidents have reduced where walls have been coated. The action’s video acquired more than 4,000,000 views on YouTube, spread over the internet and quickly became worldwide news. With 200,000,000 global media impressions, we created enormous publicity for the Community and the whole district drew worldwide attention to the problem and exported the idea to other countries.

The Brief

The goal was to locally stop drunken people peeing wherever they like, and to multiply the idea through online communication and PR. Different coatings were tested to find out which work best for our idea. We interviewed residents and determined the most frequented walls to guarantee inevitable attention and a strong kick-off for the idea.

Execution

After a two-weeks testing phase, the most suitable coating was chosen and ordered in large amounts. Within one week, it was applied by painters from the neighborhood to the most frequented walls in St. Pauli. For PR purposes, we put up warning signs on the walls – and at the same time announced to the media that not every wall carries a warning sign. Thereby we made it unpredictable for “Wildpinklers” – where walls would pee back, and where they wouldn’t, expanding the action’s effect onto entire St. Pauli. According to the coating’s manufacturer, the hydrophobic effect lasts at least one year.

Residents reported that the number of peeing incidents has not only reduced where walls had been coated. With zero media budget and seeding, the action’s video spread over the internet (approx. 5,000,000 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. The German term “Wildpinkler” gained international acknowledgment, and countless Memes on social platforms like 9GAG and Reddit followed. Thousands asked us where to purchase the coating to continue the action, among them many large events – such as the Oktoberfest. San Francisco is already testing the coating. And even countries – like Australia and India – are discussing whether to pee back, too. The coating’s manufacturer is receiving countless inquiries about purchase and even sold out in Germany.

The Strategy

St. Pauli residents are proud of their neighborhood. With their direct yet humorous attitude to life, they like living in this colorful and rough area. But they don’t like people peeing everywhere, as well as the resulting smell. The “Wildpinklers” (“free-peers”) often are drunk party-goers – which makes them a difficult target group for bureaucratic warnings, prohibitions and fines.