To launch in Belgium Carlsberg’s new global strapline ‘That calls for a Carlsberg’ – positioning Carlsberg as a reward for people showing courage - we set up a cinema stunt: a series of unsuspecting couples bought cinema tickets, only to find as they walked in to the theatre that they were surrounded by hardcore bikers. More than talk-value, this social experiment provided PR and discussion-value about the very brand essence: would you have shown courage?

A series of unsuspecting couples bought cinema tickets, only to find as they walked in to the theater that they were surrounded by hard core bikers. Many couples walked straight out, but those brave enough to take their seats were rewarded by cheers and a bottle of Carlsberg as the strapline flashed up on the screen. The stunt was filmed and made viral through a YouTube film, emailing and social networks.

More than talk-value, the social experiment provided discussion-value. ‘Bikers’ got covered in all major media-channels in Belgium and major international titles like The Sun and Forbes. Each not merely reporting about the viral, but engaging the audience in a discussion and debate about the very brand essence: would you have shown courage? In just a few weeks the viral film made from the stunt was featured on countless blogs and news sites all over the world, was viewed over 16.000.000 times on YouTube, and got more than 2.000.000 Facebook shares, resulting in a gross reach of more than 150,000,000 free contacts. And we’re still counting. We clearly managed to generate and leverage PR-value to solve a brand challenge