Cold front in Europe “Cooper” Sponsored by Mini

In a clever move by advertising agency Sassenbach for its client Mini, a recent weather low was named after the car “Mini Cooper.” Mini Cooper is one of the latest car models manufactured by Mini Deutschland that coincidentally shares the same name with “Cooper” as a freezing weather condition of Europe.
If your advertising campaign happens to have the same name as the cold front, you might risk getting a cold reception from your target market.  Though it seems like a less than ideal marketing campaign, using the weather as publicity is still good publicity.

Cooper cold front
The high-pressure system coming from Siberia is the origin of this icy and fatal grip. The alarming cold weather turned catastrophic as it’s sweeping across Eastern and Central Europe causing dozens of deaths and counting.   Over 500 patients are treated for injuries such as frostbites and other cold-related harm.  It has claimed at least 30 lives in Ukraine over the past five-day period.

Adopt-a-Vortex scheme
The much-talked about damage of Cooper cold front makes it even more interesting for the Munich-based advertising agency to cleverly push its marketing efforts by naming the cold front “Cooper.”

The “Adopt-a-Vortex” scheme made this advertising effort a reality. The general public can participate in this advertising stint by simply playing “weather Godfathers” where they name high and low pressure systems. “Adopt-a-Vortex” is similar to naming the weather system where you go online to sponsor a high-pressure system for $394 or a low-pressure system for $262.  It is however forbidden for brand names to register not unless they are first names similar to Minnie and Cooper. When your name is accepted, you receive a detailed material together with weather maps as a means of charting the life story of the weather system.

While naming the current weather condition in such a way that advertises your product seems ingenious, another consideration is the risk it brings to your brand’s reputation that could turn off potential clients when associated to the cold front that causes dozens of death and cold-related injuries across Europe.