To prove clean sheet day could last all week, we built an event installation so bizarrely transparent, it became buzz-worthy. We asked comedian, and famously bad sleeper, Mike Birbiglia to live (and sleep) inside a Macy’s display window in New York—to put the freshness of ULTRA DOWNY APRIL FRESH to the test. For a week. Live.Suddenly, fabric softener became interesting. Crowds of people stood by at all hours of the day. Millions tuned in to watch on Facebook. Everywhere, we encouraged people to keep Mike company over social media channels—tweet from the window, or post on Facebook—to ask Mike questions and suggest what to do next. We drew traffic to the experience through Facebook and YouTube media, Macy’s social presence, and online giveaways. Mike became a living billboard, at the nexus of a large-scale social media conversation everyone could be a part of.

In 7 days, Mike in the Window turned fabric softener into a conversation, with 500 million media impressions and 8 million for the window itself. It upped Downy’s social media presence, tripling the brand’s Facebook fans and adding 16,800 Twitter followers. And it’s an acknowledged “first of its kind” on Facebook.Even better, the program also broke through to a younger audience. Downy hit 8 million views on YouTube, and the content continues to be watched and shared. For fans, Mike in the Window was a daily escape, a creative outlet, and a reason to give Downy a second look.