The security cordon at the EURO 2008 Football Championships was almost impenetrable to outside advertisers. However, where the dividing lines between art and advertising become fluid, promotional measures can be flown in under the radar: OTTO therefore sent artist Dennis Pahl aka the “Paint-Me” man to the event. He stood himself directly in front of the stadiums and let football fans cover him in paint. Each of the 17 happenings were available to view two hours later. On top of that, fans at home could cover a life-size version of him in virtual paint on their computers.

The campaign generated widespread media attention and coverage – from the Hamburg Morgenpost to Swiss Television/SF. The campaign website was awarded the “FWA – Site of day”, was nominated at creativewebsitewards.com and, on top of that, also generated approximately 500,000 page visits. OTTO managed to run the only campaign right in the security area without official UEFA sponsor status.