If you're participating in the Greater New York Dental Meeting as an exhibitor or attendee, you'll be happy to know that the Charmin Restrooms are back.
During the past three years, Proctor & Gamble has been boosting the bottom line of its iconic toilet-tissue brand by sponsoring free, clean restrooms in Times Square during the holiday season. Tourists and native New Yorkers alike are letting out a collective sigh of relief.
Take it from me, my family and I appreciated the Charmin Restroom experience three years ago when we drove in to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree...Sure beat holding it in until we got to Jersey or (gag) using the Times Square McDonald's public restrooms.
The 2008 Charmin Restrooms were officially opened last week by former N'Sync singer Joey Fatone who is also this year's "King of the Throne". Now before you start cracking the "career going down the toilet" jokes, keep in mind that since his boy band days, Joey appeared on Broadway in the musical "Rent", competed in "Dancing with The Stars" and hosted "The Singing Bee."
Maybe his agent was having a bad day when Proctor & Gamble came calling. More likely the the paper Mr. Fatone is squeezing these days has more dead presidents on it than you and I will see in a lifetime.
I'm not sure if Mr. Whipple is rolling in his grave or beaming with pride, but the Charmin Restrooms are centrally-located in Times Square between 45th and 46th streets and take up two floors.
The first floor is for, shall we say "product sampling" within 20 luxury stalls whose halls are decked in a winter wonderland theme and the second is for recharging digital devices and relaxing - Wow, a real rest room!
It won't be easy to dump and run because there are also baby-changing stations, flat-screen televisions, a Charmin retail boutique, and a "family photo section" with a printing station.
My wife and I proudly display our family bathroom shot from three years ago next to our Carnival Cruise family photo. But we're just sentimental that way. You may just want to humiliate your kids by creating a special MySpace page or using the photo in this year's holiday cards.
Talk about smart cross-promotion - Duracell, which is also a P&G brand, is the sponsor of the second floor's "Power Lodge," where you can recharge all your gadgets and gizmos, before you hit the streets...or before nature calls again.
The restrooms are open every day, all day on Thanksgiving and until 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, but are closed Christmas Day - No pit stop for Santa and the Elves before they head back to the north Pole.
The restrooms will also be open on New Year's Eve until the wee-wee hours...when most of those in Times squre will be three sheets to the wind.
I don't even want to think about what went on during New Year's Rocking Eve before the Charmin Public Restrooms opened. I guess that's why Dick Clark always stood on a scaffold above street level.
The Charmin Public Restrooms in Times Square is one of the best examples of grass roots promotional branding that I have ever seen in my twenty plus years in marketing and public relations. It's been reported that 400, 000 people have visited these facilities in previous years.
Proctor and Gamble is wiping out the competition with this one. If you're in the city this holiday season, check it out - It's really a hoot and masterful marketing.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
