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There are 8 million pigeons in America, by some estimates, so identifying the one that left those disgusting droppings on your car would be all but impossible—until now.
A marketing stunt from a nascent car wash chain called Take 5 named an “official pigeon,” outfitted it with a GPS device and let nature run its course.
After digital tracking and on-the-ground legwork, captured in a cheeky documentary-style video, the brand turned the critter’s nasty trail of guano-covered vehicles into free car washes for thousands of drivers.
From independent agency Erich and Kallman, the stunt used Dallas, Texas, as a launching pad because the brand has a cluster of stores there. Creatives shot a mini movie on-site with some purposely melodramatic footage of the pigeon chase and a talking-head interview with a veteran ornithologist who rates “official pigeon’s” poop as “some of the best I’ve ever seen.”
Among the other standout assets are “official pigeon” images inspired by “most wanted” posters and coupons left on car windshields that say, “Congrats on the bird poop.”
The activation, which kicked off Tuesday and continues through the week, fans out to 11 total cities, including Nashville, Denver, New Orleans and Tampa Bay, representing the biggest marketing push to date for Take 5.
An unexpected marketing approach
The campaign latches onto a mildly stomach-churning occurrence that has “happened to everyone and is pretty hard to ignore,” Eric Kallman, the agency’s co-founder and chief creative officer, said in a statement. “Pigeons are notorious for it, so why not follow one around as it poops on cars and offer free washes to those people?”
The concept struck Take 5’s leadership team as “an unexpected and memorable, albeit messy, approach, and that’s exactly why we love it,” CMO Brady Noon said.
The goal, along with showing love to existing customers, is to boost trial and build brand awareness for the chain that was born in Charlotte, N.C., in 2020 and has since grown to about 400 stores around the country. The retailer, part of Driven Brands, is a sibling of Take 5 Oil Change.