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True horror: Big flies drag tiny banner ads through German book fair

11:26 AM Sat, Oct 31, 2009 |
By Sheila Lennon    Email this author |   Email this entry

It feels almost irresponsible to blog this, but there's postmodern horror news on Halloween.

Imagine a world of large flies hobbled by tiny banner ads tied with thread to their legs like miniature airplanes at the beach, each disoriented and lurching from shoulder to human shoulder, spreading disease in the name of profits.



Eichborn fly banner at the Frankfurt Book Fair (853 x 505 at YouTube)

From Wired UK: Tiny banner ads attached to flies generate buzz:

A company at a German trade show has attached tiny banner advertisements to flies and set them loose on unsuspecting visitors, in a bizarre yet effective marketing stunt.

The banners, measuring just a few centimetres across, seem to be causing the beleaguered flies a bit of piloting trouble. The weight keeps the flies at a lower altitude and forces them to rest more often, which is a stroke of genius on the part of the marketing creatives: the flies end up at about eye level, and whenever a fly is forced to land and recover, the banner is clearly visible. What's more, the zig-zagging of the fly naturally attracts the attention because of its rapid movement.

Who speaks for the flies?

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