Fun with animal waste!

We love a good in-store event. Even when that in-store event takes over the parking lot. If you’ve attended one of our “Champagne Events & Promotions on a Beer Budget!” seminars, then you’ve no doubt heard us tell about the famous, er infamous, Cow Pie Bingo contests that happen all over the country. Just in case you haven’t heard, Cow Pie Bingo is a game where you pit your luck against the “gastronomical actions of a cow”. Sometimes Cow Pie Bingo is run by a single retailer, sometimes by a shopping center, and sometimes even the entire town gets in on the act.

A parking lot is marked off in squares so it resembles a giant piece of graph paper. A cow is lead to the center of the grid and let loose to roam about at will. Human participants pay an entry fee to guess where they think Bossy will do what comes naturally within in an allotted period of time. Did we mention that this is a charity event? Part of the entry fee goes to a chosen charity and the other part goes to a lucky winner, so if the cow does her moo-vement (okay, you know we’d have to say that somewhere in this post) in your chosen square, you win cash money! And let us tell you, this usually amounts to a big win. If you’ve been looking to draw attention to your store and help a local charity at the same time then Cow Pie Bingo is for you.

We googled “Cow Pie Bingo” just for fun and came up with a load of results; 397,000 to be exact. People really love their Cow Pie Bingo. One town ran theirs on the high school football field; one participant was proud to report that “The best thing was when a cow lifted its tail. The entire stadium would then go silent hoping that their square would be soiled. Oddly enough the sport saw a turn out roughly comparable to a varsity football game. People were also betting on the sidelines on how fast it would take for the cow to produce its goods.” Who wouldn’t want to host an event that drew a turn out as big as a varsity football game?

Now we are pleased to have found yet another promotional opportunity to use animal waste to make money. Ladies and Gentleman, we give you the Talkeetna, Alaska Moose Dropping Festival!

Put the telephone down, there’s no need to call PETA. The fine folks of Talkeetna do not actually drop a moose, they shellack and number a thousand moose nuggets and drop them from a hot-air balloon onto a bullseye target below. The lucky person who holds the number of the dropping that hits the target goes home $1000 richer!

Then there’s a parade and food and lots of cool games like the “Famous Moose Nugget Toss” and the “Mountain Mother Contest” where “female participants split a quart of wood, then run an obstacle course wearing snowshoes – all with the equivalent weight of a baby strapped on their back”. As far as the Moose Drop goes, contestants buy moose droppings which are taken up by helicopter and dropped onto a target. The winner is the person whose moose dropping lands closest to the target. That lucky winner splits the pot 50/50 with the Historical Society. We found many knock-offs of Talkeetna’s Moose Drop, several that use substitute a helicopter for the hot air balloon, and one where a guy throws the moose dropping off of his store roof. See? There’s that creativity again! You can learn more about Talkeeta’s Moose Drop at http://www.talkeetnachamber.org/event-moosedropping.html

The folks in Talkeetna also understand cross-merchandising because they sell all kinds of things that tie-in with their festival: How about some moose poop earrings or a moose poop tie rack. Everyone needs some moose poop potpourri, don’t they?

Yes, we’re having fun with you. Sort of. Too many customers are sick of shopping. You are probably tired of running yet another 20% off sale. We've always been big believers in keeping your promotional calendar full with one major and two minor in-store events each month. It’s May and school’s almost out. It’s the perfect time to host an event that will draw herds of happy customers and the local TV cameras. And events that involve charities are always a good thing – for the retailer and the charity. So even if you’re not up to inviting a cow to dress up your parking lot, do something. Plan at least one big event this summer that will get the whole town talking.

On your bark, get set, GO!

The Third Annual PETCO Unleashed Races are ready to roll! Hundreds of pint-size Chihuahuas with larger-than-life personalities will face off for a chance to compete for the coveted title of America's Fastest Chihuahua.

Accompanied by their human family members, the competitors will race in heats of 10 along a 1/18th furlong (35-foot-long) track. The winner will be awarded a trip to San Diego to compete against 14 other regional champions in the national finals in front of cheering crowds between innings of a major league baseball game at PETCO Park, home to the San Diego Padres, on Sept. 2, 2007. Source: ABC7 Chicago

We love the creativity of the folks at PETCO! Click here to learn more:
http://www.petco.com/Content/Content.aspx?PC=petcounleashed&Nav=1