Barnes & Noble
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Quilted Northern
We chose to use the brand of Barnes and Noble with the voice of Quilted Northern. We felt that this was a natural fit, as most people read in the bathroom, which ended up being our main insight. Quilted Northern’s tagline of “Designed to be Forgotten” served as the inspiration for our campaign. Namely, the bathroom is a safe space where one can do whatever one pleases. What if Barnes and Noble made bathrooms the “safe places” for reading the books one doesn’t necessarily want to admit to in public.
Our print ads utilize bathroom puns and book puns in the best way possible. People love to read in the bathroom, so why not put the ads in magazines that they will be reading in there anyways?
Bathroom Wi-Fi Library
The average person spends about an hour and a half on the toilet a week. Much of that time is wasted playing mindless phone games or staring at tiles. That’s why we’re giving full access of our library in all Barnes and Noble bathrooms. The perfect way to show people how useful bathroom reading can be is to allow them to actually read in the bathrooms.
Bus Stop Ad
We will install motion-sensored ads in bus stops. When a person passes by or takes a seat, the bus ads will reveal themselves as a person on the toilet. This is a jarring way to illustrate the point, and the surprise-factor will definitely stick out in someone’s memory.
CW: Shireen Beygui, AD: Lauryn Campbell