The T-Bird and the Hare

There are many ways to earn a second glance from potential customers, which, of course, is the first goal of just about every marketing campaign. San Diego’s Crunch Fitness health club chose somewhat of a quirky route to get the attention of Southern Californians: The strategy involved pairing a mint-condition 1957 Ford Thunderbird convertible with someone dressed in a bunny costume.

To utilize the T-Bird as an advertising vehicle, Crunch chose Lighthouse Advertising Group (lighthouseadgroup.com), a Southern California ad firm and print provider, to wrap the ride. “The idea was to wrap the vehicle and drive this very classic car around with the top down and the Crunch Fitness mascot bunny in the passenger seat. Everyone would be looking at this classic car with the bunny, and now everyone would be seeing Crunch Fitness, too,” says Lighthouse’s Aaron Thompson.

Crunch provided Lighthouse with its corporate logos as digital files, which Lighthouse integrated into the impressive wrap design using Adobe Creative Suite 5. Using its Roland SolJet Pro III XC-540 and Eco-Sol inks, the shop printed the wrap onto 3M Controltac with 3M laminate.

Two Lighthouse installers took a full day to wrap the T-Bird. “The hood scoop, chrome emblems, and rear raised tail fins were challenging nuances of this particular vehicle,” says Thompson. “We overcame these issues with a lot of time and care to nail every detail.”

Post-“rabbit drive,” the T-Bird has been showcased in Crunch Fitness’s parking lot as well as driven for the owner’s personal use and continues to receive lots of attention, even sans bunny.

LIGHTHOUSE ADVERTISING GROUP
www.lighthouseadgroup.com