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germ1.pngYes, the entire world is paranoid about Swine Flu. Yes, everyone is ready to lynch people who cough, sneeze or sniffle in public. And yes, The Ricola Cougher, surely one of the Top 10 most ill-conceived marketing campaigns in history, is baaaaaaaack!
Since 2005, the cougher has been turning up in public places and coughing. The first person to run up and hand him a cough drop won a prize. He coughed in hair salons, movie theaters, malls, parties and parks. He’s lucky he didn’t cough on the subway in New York, where people kill people who look at them wrong.
flu3.pngThis year, for the first time since the Cougher started his or her germy journey, the search only takes place online. I guess they couldn’t get an insurance policy on a live cougher during a flu epidemic.
The grand prize is $1 million, and there are $1K weekly prizes for six weeks. Netflix started the current trend toward $1M contest prizes. But Netflix contest was interesting, engaging and fun. Unlike the cougher.