Gum Behaves Itself in Ireland

The city of Dublin launched the Gum Litter Task Force, an initiative to combat gum littering sponsored by members of the food industry, the Education and Environmental Departments, and local governments. The campaign to achieve "a long-term sustainable solution" to the problem of gum litter included both traditional ads and guerrilla marketing promotions like this one. Hundreds of shoes were "stuck" to the street, accompanied by custom decals of thought-bubbles reminding passersby that gum belongs in the trash.

Elsewhere in the campaign, students distributed promotional pens reminding shoppers to dispose of their gum properly, and posters on the street scolded pedestrians by threatening a €150 fine for noncompliance. Neither of these have the shoes' unique promotional advantage, though--children and posters are easy to ignore, while an army of random shoes provokes thought and discussion.