Watch out, tree approaching!
Möbel Unikat organized Switzerland's first Christmas tree-throwing contest for the furniture store IKEA. And that's: Uniquely different, as always.
Furniture
Unikat organized the first Christmas tree toss in Switzerland for the furniture store Ikea. And that's: customarily different.
The young man looks intently at the ground. Then he takes a running start and, after three turns, hurls a Christmas tree through the air in the manner of a hammer thrower. The spiky greenery lands eight meters away and in the middle of the audience. The people applaud. "Also a possibility," comments David Karasek. The referee has the throw repeated. This time the man throws the tree like a javelin. Six meters away. "Very bad, but thanks for taking part," the Radio 24 presenter tries to console him. The scene took place at the weekend in the station hall in Zurich and was part of a marketing campaign by the Swedish furniture store Ikea called Knut. This is the winter sale at Ikea.
Swedes celebrate longerKnut was once a Scandinavian king who allegedly died tragically in 1086. While in Switzerland Christmas ends on Epiphany, the Swedes celebrate until the anniversary of Knut's death on January 13. Then they dance one last time around the Christmas tree, which is then catapulted out of the window in a high arc, as the Ikea TV commercial shows these days.
Hundreds took partBecause the trees are falling, the prices should fall too. To publicize the sales campaign, Ikea is using the Christmas tree toss. Despite wintry temperatures, hundreds of people gathered in the Ikea arenas in Zurich, Lausanne and Lugano to prove themselves in this young discipline. Not unimportant: in addition to fame and honor, prizes worth 36,000 francs awaited the winners. Athletes could compete in the categories of men, women, young people and children.
The campaign was launched by the Küsnacht-based advertising agency Unikat, which has been advertising for the Swedish furniture store since 2003. The agency shares the Ikea budget with Vizner Borel. In the first phase, the advertisers set themselves the goal of establishing the name of the winter sales. To this end, the German TV commercial was adapted for Switzerland and used between Christmas and New Year. As the name Knut had become very popular due to the media frenzy surrounding the Berlin polar bear, the first Swiss Christmas tree throwing championship was launched and advertised in advertisements, flyers and on the Internet.
Looking back, Unikat owner Jan Mauerer draws a positive conclusion. His agency was able to persuade a total of 1,300 participants to compete in the young long throw discipline. Waiting times of up to 30 minutes were accepted. The only rule was not to put your foot on the other side of a red line. The audience therefore witnessed the most creative throwing techniques. Some catapulted the saplings into the field like Scottish tree trunk throwers, while others were inspired by javelin or hammer throwing.
Javelin thrower with best distance The campaign ends on January 19 with the award ceremony and presentation of prizes and medals in Spreitenbach. The winner of the competition is Partrick Bütikofer. As Jan Maurer told Werbewoche, a former javelin thrower set the record. The man threw the green almost 14 meters. For comparison: according to Maurer, the average distance among the men was six meters. The Christmas tree throwing is not over yet. Unikat created a game for the Ikea website, which is currently being advertised on high-reach Swiss internet sites. The record there is almost 160 meters.
Addendum: What works with trees also works with Ikea furniture. The author recently had to dispose of a rack. According to his own estimates, he took a running jump and transported it four meters and ten meters deep into the skip of a Zurich waste disposal facility. The fact that the laborious assembly of the furniture once got him into an argument with his girlfriend has nothing to do with the throwing performance.
Christian Lüscher
Curious world of long throwingYou can throw pretty much anything that your muscles can handle. While the Greeks threw javelins to compete in the Olympic Games, today - in keeping with the spirit of the times - people throw cell phones or cow pats. At the cell phone throwing Olympics in Finland, participants threw their devices up to 90 meters. One of the most bizarre competitions is held every year in Beaver (USA). People compete in the cow patty long throw. The world record in this discipline was allegedly set by Steve Urner in 1981 with 81.1 meters. The Ikea Christmas tree championship is not the only one. In Germany, entire village communities have been gathering for years to compete in the Christmas tree competition. The disciplines: High throw over a pole, long throw analogous to the well-known javelin throw and sling throw, which is similar to the hammer throw. (cl)?
Unikat organized the first Christmas tree toss in Switzerland for the furniture store Ikea. And that's: customarily different.
The young man looks intently at the ground. Then he takes a running start and, after three turns, hurls a Christmas tree through the air in the manner of a hammer thrower. The spiky greenery lands eight meters away and in the middle of the audience. The people applaud. "Also a possibility," comments David Karasek. The referee has the throw repeated. This time the man throws the tree like a javelin. Six meters away. "Very bad, but thanks for taking part," the Radio 24 presenter tries to console him. The scene took place at the weekend in the station hall in Zurich and was part of a marketing campaign by the Swedish furniture store Ikea called Knut. This is the winter sale at Ikea.
Swedes celebrate longerKnut was once a Scandinavian king who allegedly died tragically in 1086. While in Switzerland Christmas ends on Epiphany, the Swedes celebrate until the anniversary of Knut's death on January 13. Then they dance one last time around the Christmas tree, which is then catapulted out of the window in a high arc, as the Ikea TV commercial shows these days.
Hundreds took partBecause the trees are falling, the prices should fall too. To publicize the sales campaign, Ikea is using the Christmas tree toss. Despite wintry temperatures, hundreds of people gathered in the Ikea arenas in Zurich, Lausanne and Lugano to prove themselves in this young discipline. Not unimportant: in addition to fame and honor, prizes worth 36,000 francs awaited the winners. Athletes could compete in the categories of men, women, young people and children.
The campaign was launched by the Küsnacht-based advertising agency Unikat, which has been advertising for the Swedish furniture store since 2003. The agency shares the Ikea budget with Vizner Borel. In the first phase, the advertisers set themselves the goal of establishing the name of the winter sales. To this end, the German TV commercial was adapted for Switzerland and used between Christmas and New Year. As the name Knut had become very popular due to the media frenzy surrounding the Berlin polar bear, the first Swiss Christmas tree throwing championship was launched and advertised in advertisements, flyers and on the Internet.
Looking back, Unikat owner Jan Mauerer draws a positive conclusion. His agency was able to persuade a total of 1,300 participants to compete in the young long throw discipline. Waiting times of up to 30 minutes were accepted. The only rule was not to put your foot on the other side of a red line. The audience therefore witnessed the most creative throwing techniques. Some catapulted the saplings into the field like Scottish tree trunk throwers, while others were inspired by javelin or hammer throwing.
Javelin thrower with best distance The campaign ends on January 19 with the award ceremony and presentation of prizes and medals in Spreitenbach. The winner of the competition is Partrick Bütikofer. As Jan Maurer told Werbewoche, a former javelin thrower set the record. The man threw the green almost 14 meters. For comparison: according to Maurer, the average distance among the men was six meters. The Christmas tree throwing is not over yet. Unikat created a game for the Ikea website, which is currently being advertised on high-reach Swiss internet sites. The record there is almost 160 meters.
Addendum: What works with trees also works with Ikea furniture. The author recently had to dispose of a rack. According to his own estimates, he took a running jump and transported it four meters and ten meters deep into the skip of a Zurich waste disposal facility. The fact that the laborious assembly of the furniture once got him into an argument with his girlfriend has nothing to do with the throwing performance.
Christian Lüscher
Curious world of long throwingYou can throw pretty much anything that your muscles can handle. While the Greeks threw javelins to compete in the Olympic Games, today - in keeping with the spirit of the times - people throw cell phones or cow pats. At the cell phone throwing Olympics in Finland, participants threw their devices up to 90 meters. One of the most bizarre competitions is held every year in Beaver (USA). People compete in the cow patty long throw. The world record in this discipline was allegedly set by Steve Urner in 1981 with 81.1 meters. The Ikea Christmas tree championship is not the only one. In Germany, entire village communities have been gathering for years to compete in the Christmas tree competition. The disciplines: High throw over a pole, long throw analogous to the well-known javelin throw and sling throw, which is similar to the hammer throw. (cl)?
