Astronaut Pavel Vinogradov is scheduled to hit a golf ball into space from the ISS (International Space Station). The deal between a Canadian golf club manufacturer and the impoverished Russian Space Agency (RSA) has become an interesting publicity stunt, in which there could be significant danger imposed upon the astronauts and surrounding space equipment (satellites, etc.). You can read the entire article in depth here…http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20060227/spacegolf_spa.html
What is even more interesting is the noted attempt to take advantage of the uncharted marketing potential of space. We all know that this is the next obvious leap of marketing, and we can already see it starting to extend its muscles into the heavens.
Launching a golf ball into earth’s orbit is brilliant. Even more brilliant, the golf ball is “fitted with a small radio transmitter. The ball can be tracked by golf fans on their home computer, says the company, which says it will give the (gold golf) club to charity.”
It is exciting to imagine all the promotional opportunities available in space beyond golf balls. This is an entire new way for advertisers to use their creative noggins. After all, the rules that regularly apply here on earth do not apply in space (gravity, time, etc.). There have been attempts to tap into this power, i.e. the coca-cola drinking stunt in the 80’s, however it has yet to be thoroughly explored.
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about me
- Michelle B
- After graduating from the Art Institute of Colorado in September '07 with a B.A. in Advertising, Michelle moved from the Rocky Mountains to the Emirate of Dubai to pursue her career. Within a month of her move, Michelle was enlisted by the Middle East's largest real estate agency, Better Homes, to be part of its in-house marketing department. Less than twelve months later, Michelle ascended to the position of Design Manager. Currently she resides in New England pursuing freelance endeavors.
Is it brilliant to let people track a golfball in space? What does it say about a country like russia (or even the united states) when it spends billions of dollars mucking about in space while the people ostensibly paying for that program are starving? priorities. I'm all for space and it's exploration, but lets get things in a row on earth before we start fucking around out there.
TitaniumDreads
http://blog.magicpants.net
Alright Dustin. Gotcha. I knew you'd have something along those lines to say. I know you always feel it's your responsibility to "fight for the people". And I think that's great. However, it's not my cup-of-tea. :-)