Leap year
day only
happens
every for
years--and
companies
across the
country want
to take
advantage of
it when it
arrives this
year, on
Friday,
February 29.
From
frog-oriented
promotions
to marketing
campaigns
playing off
the date,
leap year
day is
becoming
another day
for
marketers to
integrate
into their
plans.
Some
businesses,
like Boston
Market and
Morton's The
Steakhouse,
are offering
free lunches
or dinners
to those
born on
February 29.
Other
promotions,
like Papa
John's
Perfect Pan
Pizza, which
launches
this Friday,
play off the
name of the
day with a
tag line
like "One
Giant Leap
for Pankind."
According to
the
Honor
Society of
Leap Year
Day Babies,
there are
about
200,000 leap
day babies
in the U.S.
Before you
try to work
leap year
day into
your
marketing
this week,
here's some
advice from
Allen P.
Adamson,
director of
the New York
office of
branding
firm Landor
Associates.
"For certain
brands, it
perks things
up," Adamson
says. "But
it wouldn't
fit with
anything
serious like
insurance,
financial
services or
medical
things.
Using leap
year in
those
instances
could really
undermine
the rest of
the
message."
