Convincing people to go to a polling station and vote without wearing any pants might just be the greatest marketing stunt of all time.
According to News.Com.Au, Australian swimwear brand Budgy Smuggler was using social media last week to encourage Australians to “exercise their constitutional right to vote without pants on”.
In an Instagram post on May 18th, they wrote:
What does swimwear have to do with a federal election?
Absolutely nothing, of course.
But a federal election is an important event for a country, and companies encouraging people to exercise their right to vote is a good thing.
So if BudgySmuggler can do that while having a little fun (and generating some publicity for the brand) at the same time, well, why not?
Did this stunt work?
Apparently, yes, it did.
Perhaps a little too well, in fact. According to a Budgy Smuggler Instagram post:
"It’s gonna be an expensive Election Day at Budgy Smuggler. We expected maybe a few people would take up he [sic] offer to vote in smugglers for a free pair… we’re up to over 100 and it’s only 11am. You’re all lunatics but in a very good way. We’ll get the vouchers out to you all this Monday. #SmugglersDecide?"
But is it really going to be that expensive of an Election Day for Budgy Smuggler?
Let's do some quick math...
Every photo submitted will cost Budgy Smuggler a $65 store credit.
If you assume a 50% margin on the company's products, then the real cost of every pantless voting photo is around $32.
So even if 250 people end up submitting eligible photos, this stunt would cost the company around $8,000.
And in exchange, Budgy Smuggler would have generated some hilarious content for their social media accounts, earned some worldwide publicity for the stunt... and will continue to earn positive word of mouth every time somebody asks one of those 250 people about their bathing suits. "Oh, you like my suit? Thanks! I got it for free for voting without pants..."
I don't know about you, but an $8,000 cost for this stunt sounds like a bargain to me.