Norwegian Airlines has lived up to the phrase “Go Big or Go Home.” To promote a new flight from Oslo, Norway to New York City last year, they didn’t just get a billboard and put New York’s famous skyline on it to entice people, they went all out with one of a kind advertising at a stop on Oslo’s subway system.
The airline’s agency, M&C Saatchi Stockholm, converted the entire stop at Nationaltheatre Station to look like the Times Square stop in New York City…complete with American flags, authentic wall advertisements, and street teams posing as everything from musicians and entertainers to Spiderman and football players. They even had a Naked Cowboy impersonator.
They even took it a step further and covered the signs with replicas to imply that commuters had gotten off in Times Square. They also covered the walls with advertisements for New York vendors and eateries, and even had street teams entertaining with music and dancing.
The illusion was not only down in the subway tunnels, it went above ground, where they had hot dog vendors, police talking about New York City, and more signage, continuing to give commuters the feel that they could actually be in New York City.
Despite the enormous amount of work to do the conversion, it was only a one day event. The stunt was well received, and reached nearly 40,000 people commuting in the city that day. People who were lucky enough to encounter the event got into the illusion, taking selfies with the Naked Cowboy, a gospel choir, and even the Statue of Liberty. Social media was buzzing that day with people enjoying the sights and sounds of New York City from thousands of miles away!
Maybe an Atlanta airline can follow suit when they add an exotic beach destination and convert a MARTA station to a tropical paradise for a day. That would definitely have commuters talking!