10-Second Record-Breaker

Proctor & Gamble was looking to promote its overseas brand of Ariel laundry detergent in a big way, so the company decided to break the world record for the largest free-hanging poster.

Christinger Partner AG, based in Zurich, Switzerland, stepped up to the plate to produce the banner, printing a 4069-sq m (43,798-sq ft) graphic onto Verseidag Semee mesh using its two HP Scitex XL1500s with HP Scitex XL100 inks. Printing was completed in 10 x 70-m (32 x 230-ft) sections, taking a total of 120 hours.

When the graphic-tipping the scales at 1.8 tons-was complete, it was attached to a rig on a helicopter by Switzerland-based company N??”?ssli, which also built the rig. This process took approximately 5 hours. The banner was then air-lifted to the ski slopes at Kleine Scheidegg in the Bernese Alps for the unveiling.

But there was bad news to come: Once the helicopter lifted the banner into the air, a steel rope holding it to the rig broke. The campaign was up for all of 10 seconds.

CHRISTINGER PARTNER AG
www.christinger.ch