'Look, that goofy
man on the kids bike'
They cruise the streets looking most disreputable
By Toni Fitzgerald
Mar 12, 2010
With so many people getting the fitness bug these days, it's not at all unusual to see a grown man riding a bicycle down the street.
What's unusual about the bike this man is riding, however, is that it's made for a little girl, having pink streamers hanging from the handlebars and a white basket decorated with yellow plastic flowers on the handlebars.
The man's dark suit clashes with the sunny pastels on the bike, and he's looking ever so uncomfortable peddling down the street.
No need to hide the kids, though. The big man on the little bike is not some neighborhood wacko but part of a promotion for Fox's new sitcom "Sons of Tucson," a sitcom about a dysfunctional family and starring Tyler Labine as Ron Snuffkin, an oddball surrogate father of sorts.
The network, which does frequent alternative media campaigns for debuting shows, did not have to brainstorm much for inspiration for this one.
"The street teams feature Ron Snuffkin look-a-likes riding small kids’ bicycles," says a Fox spokesperson. "We are playing off a great scene in the pilot in which dad-for-hire Snuffkin is forced to ride a girls' bike home after the kids steal his car."
Fox found 15 bearded men in five markets who resemble Snuffkin and dressed them in the disheveled-looking suits. The bikes were provided by Schwinn, on the condition that they are later donated to local Boys and Girls Clubs.
The stunt kicked off yesterday in Boston and Philadelphia, where the teams of 15 men biked their way around the downtown areas as well as several other high-traffic neighborhoods from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Today riders will be in New York, Los Angeles and Austin at the same times.
The Snuffkin-look-alikes are also handing out branded T-shirts and cactus lollipops to passersby.
The stunt works because it's such a surprising image. When you see the large man on the kids' bike, your first thought is "Why is that man riding that bike?," and so many passersby approach the man to find out the answer, at which point he hands out his branded items promoting the show.
It's too early to know how much the stunt helped "Tucson's" numbers -- the show premieres Sunday -- but it's certainly generated buzz on Facebook, where Fox posted the bikers' detailed schedules, and in local media, with radio and TV stations promoting the event on the web and on the air.
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