Samara isn’t just an important city in the European part of Russia. The sixth-largest city in the Russian Federation also happens to be the place where a gas station carried out what can only be described as one hell of a hilarious publicity stunt.
Olvi is a Russian chain of gas stations. In an effort to draw the local media’s attention, an Olvi station located in Samara cooked what I’d call an unorthodox but effective profile-raiser. The gas station offered a free tank of fuel, be it jungle juice or diesel, to female customers. Of course, there were a couple of conditions: wear nothing else but a bikini at the pump and go to the front desk attendant to tell him the pump number and type of fuel. That's all.
The scantily-clad marketing trick lasted only three hours, but as you can see from the adjacent video, it did the trick. Some people might consider this as a degrading offer, especially for women. Mind you, a free tank of gas is a free tank of gas, which is why many women took up the challenge and showed up at the station wearing scanty underclothing. What’s even funnier, a handful of men urged their significant others to do it in their stead. Can you imagine the conversation? “Okay, fine, I’ll strip for your goddamned free tank of gasoline!”
Now get this. Although the dress code seemed aimed at girls, guys also decided to renounce their principles (and dignity) in exchange for that sweet, sweet gas. Seeing them walking awkwardly in girl’s clothing and wearing high heels is, how should I put it, laugh out loud. But when all is said and done, Olvi’s idea of a bikini-clad publicity stunt isn’t original. Back in 2015, an Okko gas station in Kiev, Ukraine did the same thing, men wearing bikini included.
At the end of the day, publicity stunts can be categorized in two polar opposite ways. The bad type is about products, not people. A good publicity stunt, on the other hand, is about us, the consumers. Though controversial, answer this before drawing a conclusion: would you do the same thing for a free tank of fuel? I know I would. Oh, wait, I said that out loud, didn't I?
The scantily-clad marketing trick lasted only three hours, but as you can see from the adjacent video, it did the trick. Some people might consider this as a degrading offer, especially for women. Mind you, a free tank of gas is a free tank of gas, which is why many women took up the challenge and showed up at the station wearing scanty underclothing. What’s even funnier, a handful of men urged their significant others to do it in their stead. Can you imagine the conversation? “Okay, fine, I’ll strip for your goddamned free tank of gasoline!”
Now get this. Although the dress code seemed aimed at girls, guys also decided to renounce their principles (and dignity) in exchange for that sweet, sweet gas. Seeing them walking awkwardly in girl’s clothing and wearing high heels is, how should I put it, laugh out loud. But when all is said and done, Olvi’s idea of a bikini-clad publicity stunt isn’t original. Back in 2015, an Okko gas station in Kiev, Ukraine did the same thing, men wearing bikini included.
At the end of the day, publicity stunts can be categorized in two polar opposite ways. The bad type is about products, not people. A good publicity stunt, on the other hand, is about us, the consumers. Though controversial, answer this before drawing a conclusion: would you do the same thing for a free tank of fuel? I know I would. Oh, wait, I said that out loud, didn't I?