Poof. Adios. Gone missing. That’s the verdict on the Kidnapped Chicagoan—according to several posters plastered in and around The El and buses throughout the windy city.
Each poster playfully points out that one of Chicago’s 2.9 million people has disappeared and directs the reader to KidnappedChicagoan.com to find out where he is.
Once there, the viewer gets a whirlwind tour of the mystery city (St. Louis, in-case you couldn’t tell) along with tweets, Foursquare updates, a streaming ‘Kidnap Kam’ and plenty of other content to dive into.
This is the first-ever campaign from the St. Louis CVC directed exclusively toward Chicagoans. And it’s a bold one, forgoing the traditional imagery of the city with a big St. Louis logo in favor of an intriguing message to pull you into the story of one man’s journey to the gateway city. Wait. Just noticed “gateway” is an anagram for “getaway.” Maybe we should’ve done “The Great Gateway Getaway” instead . . . Na. This is way better.
What’s a fifth cousin, you ask? Simply put, it’s a complete stranger that tries to cash in on your family vacation to St. Louis. Despicable, huh?
Hint: you’re currently reading a blog from said agency. Give up? It was Hoffman | Lewis. Campaigns for Missouri Tourism and St. Louis beat out campaigns for destinations all over the world for the most Adrian Awards at a gala in New York.
Eighteen awards in total made their way back to the Midwest, in addition to a nomination for Google’s prestigious Wisdom of the Crowd Award. “Guided by a philosophy that states: Focus on the user and all else will follow,” the Wisdom of the Crowd Award nomination recognized Missouri’s “Stay Close” campaign.
