In March of 2008, GE held its annual kitchen appliance trade show. This installation ran 24 hours a day for all three days of the event. We were asked to develop a brand activation idea to raise awareness and generate buzz for GE’s stainless steel refrigerators at localized key retailer events. Though our client was looking for hard-hitting impact, they had a minimal budget for this initiative.

When hearing that the trade show would be held at the Hilton, we thought immediately of the elevator lobby.

By simply adding just a few stickers, the elevators magically morphed into refrigerators, creating such a seamless optical illusion that several people did double and triple takes. The Dallas Anatole Hilton was sold out during the installation, filling 1,606 rooms. As a result, at minimum, the elevator installation was viewed over 15,000 times over the course of three days. From that we definitely achieved our goal of generating considerable buzz at this key retailer event.