Awesome granny.

[karpiel]

[fish]

good call grandma

[davep]

http://www.fipp.com/Default.aspx?Pag...2&ItemId=12393

PPA Ireland, the professional association for magazine publishers in Ireland, has run in summer 2004 an innovative advertising campaign which highlights the power and effectiveness of magazine advertising in Irish magazines.

The advertisement showed a photograph of an elderly woman called Bernie (in fact, a fictional character) and the text read “Yes, it is me. I am sick to death of watching you lot fighting over my money. I am not dead yet. So here you go. I’m spending it. I am putting this message in every magazine I can find and will keep doing so until the money is gone. Then maybe you can stop the bickering. Shame on you all. Bernie.”

The telephones of publishers who ran the ad immediately became jammed as hundreds of calls flooded in from the general public. Most readers offered their support for Bernie, some offered gifts, and others simply wanted to know more. As the intrigue surrounding Bernie grew, national and regional radio stations and newspaper were also contacted by a curious public.

In fact, the main purpose of the campaign was to highlight to advertisers and agencies that magazine advertising has a closer and more personal relationship with its audience than other media have with theirs.