The 7th May this year was a very interesting day in terms of double beds. The InterContinental Hotels Group kicked off a promotion to get people to sign up for their Priority Club Rewards.
But this was no ordinary promotion. You see if you had visited Covent Garden in London on that day – or any one of three other major cities around the world in France, China or the USA – you would have been able to see the biggest double bed ever made.
In fact, to call it a double bed is probably a little misleading. After all we are talking about a bed that is marginally bigger than the standard 4 feet 6 inches measurement of a standard double bed. These ones measured an incredible 50 feet by 33 feet – and we bet you couldn’t get anything of that size in your own bedroom. That is why the outdoor locations were picked for all of these publicity events.
It is clear to see why the company would choose huge double beds to promote their rewards scheme. After all, this is a hotel group so they are used to having people book into their hotels all over the place to spend a comfortable night in one of their double beds. But there is more to the stunt than meets the eye here.
Apparently they company was treating its customers to free nights in its hotels once certain conditions have been met. So for example, you would have to book a standard stay of a minimum number of nights and then you would get one free night as a result. No doubt this offer would have attracted the attention of lots of people anyway – but the innovative bed jump was certainly another step in the right direction for getting some attention!
And while they were at it, they decided to try and get the world record for the largest number of people jumping up and down on a bed. It seems like a daft world record doesn’t it, but with beds this size why not try and grab a world record while you are at it?
Since the event did hit the headlines all over the internet and elsewhere, it seems likely that the event had the desired effect. It certainly provided a great publicity stunt for the company. No doubt some of the people who have joined their club as a result are now looking forward to enjoying a free stay in a hotel they own, thanks to joining the club.
You can see that this type of publicity stunt really can get excellent results if you think big. Apparently it took five weeks for a group of people to build each big bed, and with thirty mattresses being used on each one they must have been a sight to behold by the end.
We’d all love a duvet that big, but in the end these big beds were intended only for the stunt and nothing else. Never mind!