Credit where it’s due. The folks at Opera Software compete in a very demanding marketplace. When they’re not fighting the might of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, they’re faced with the momentum of Mozilla… and to top it off they actually sell an Internet browser for money.
For the latest release of their eponymous browser, the company’s CEO, Jon S. von Tetzchnerat, told staff that if the downloads topped 1 million within four days of it’s launch he’d (ahem) swim from their headquarters in Norway to the US….
Guess what? The target was met.
So into the water went the CEO (with his trusty PR executive in a rubber dinghy) and low and behold the dinghy sank, the CEO had to “save” his PR colleague and the attempt was cancelled 🙂
Fantastic PR. A great use of humor and proof that clever thinking can reap rewards without the need for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Further reading
- The (ahem) official account.
- Opera boss makes good on pledge to swim to America
- Media Stunt ends in “dramatic rescue at sea”
Murphy's Law 