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A story told in one act Guys in hazmat suits accost a man on the street Jun 25, 2009
Suddenly three men race up to him. They’re wearing white hazmat suits and protective goggles. One carries a bullhorn. A siren blairs. The businessman, now frightened, begins running. The three men set off after him, surrounding him. He stands there, his laptop over his head, looking as if he's about to be robbed. But the men are not after the man or his money but his laptop. It’s infected by a virus, one of the hazmat men yells out to the gathering crowd. It must be sisinfected. The man aims a spray bottle at the laptop, and out comes streams of silly string. As you've probably figured out by now, the entire incident was staged. The hazmat specialists and the businessman, all actors, take a bow and pose for pictures. They then hand out sample software and pamphlets for BitDefender, an anti-malware company. The campy guerilla campaign was cooked up for BitDefender by Mango Moose Media, the Canadian alternative media company. "We wanted a change of ideas," says Martin Wisniewski, an account manager at Mango Moose, something that would connect the product with consumers in an interesting or amusing way. "[We were brainstorming] around the time the swine flu was happening. We thought it would be a cool idea to have people in hazmat suits walking around the city. "Originally we wanted an air raid siren and people jumping out of vans. That would have scared the hell out of people. But that was not the right type of attention. What came out of the ideas we had was a lighter, watered-down version of the original." The campaign began on Tuesday and it will run through July 2, with two street teams of four people performing the skit around the city. The skits are being filmed to post later on YouTube in hopes of spurring a viral video following. Pictures of each day’s skits are also being posted on www.BitDefenderLIVE.com. If the Toronto campaign is successful, the same idea may be used in Montreal and Vancouver at later dates. The stunt obviously is drawing attention, if just for the sheer spectacle of it. But it works on another level, too, by giving life to the rather abstract concept of virus prevention. It lends personality to a product that most people think of as a mere utility. Plus, the whole thing is pretty funny. "I think especially in Toronto, where we have a lot of street teams out, anything that can separate you from the pack and is different and innovative is going to grab attention," Wisniewski says.
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