A Puck Promotion Gone Bad

... very ...very ...bad.

Hey, I'm as much a hardcore hockey fan as the next guy but even the oddman has his limits. Urinal diving for pucks is one them.

EARLIER THIS YEAR, GREENSPON ADVERTISING Southeast created and executed an ad buy in men's urinals throughout 50 bars and restaurants in Charlotte, N.C. promoting the ECHL hockey team, the Charlotte Checkers. The campaign simply featured a Charlotte Checkers branded hockey puck in the urinal. That's all. Nothing more.

The campaign got out of hand, however, and made its way into dirty hands when the hockey pucks started disappearing.

That's right; people were stealing the hockey pucks. This is disgusting on so many levels--but the agency didn't skip a beat and launched a mock PSA playing off the dirty puck thefts. Interestingly enough, the agency had trouble getting the pucks placed in the urinals in the first place. But no trouble getting them out.

(my emphasis)

Now THAT'S some very hardcore hockey fans. Like I said it's not the kind of opportunity I would reach (in) for but it's good to see there are some crazy puck fans down there in NASCAR country that would.

I guess it's a good sign for hockey.