Sony has gone hopping mad. The digital giant is encouraging consumers to blow up space hoppers using the power of Twitter as part of its broader 'Spark Something' campaign to support the release of its Satio TM and Aino TM handsets.
The campaign has already seen Sony conduct the world's first online flashmob, with users collaborating to take-over Yahoo's homepage. The campaign has sought ways to create communal events that link people using only the power of technology.
This time Sony is harnessing the power of Twitter. Hundreds of deflated space hoppers have been arranged on a grid in a secret warehouse. Consumers are being directed to a dedicated website and then encouraged to send a tweet saying #pumpt. This will then trigger a pump to start inflating one of the space hoppers, which the user can watch happen online. Consumers are also being encouraged to tweet in what they would like to do with the space hoppers once they are all inflated with the most imaginative wish being granted, filmed and then posted online.
Already the campaign has seen more than 180,000 virtual space hoppers created by users engaging with the campaign site and a YouTube video has generated more than 800,000 views. So far more than 1,200 people have taken part in six online screen invasions of sites across the globe, using a browser cookie to link their personally created space hopper to their current location.