Greg Vosits, a student, delays his trip to visit grandparents in Austria after winning a trip to Cyprus from Heineken. (Diane Bondareff/Invision for Heineken)
Ever wanted to suddenly take a trip to the most random place possible? Then the thought of packing bags, booking flights, finding a hotel, and making up an excuse to escape the office all ruin your chances at an impulsive decision.
Well, maybe it’s time to play "Departure Roulette" at Terminal 8 in New York’s JFK Airport. Twice this week, advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy set up a special type of flight board inside the terminal as part of a campaign for Heineken.
The large green billboard reads, "DROP EVERYTHING. PUSH BUTTON. COMMIT TO:" Under the phrase is a red button with an old fashioned departures board beside it.
The rules are simple, push the red button and see where you will go. Travelers must agree beforehand to travel to whatever exotic and random destination the board lists. They must drop their existing travel plans and immediately board a flight to the new location.
The game was inspired by a new Heineken web series titled “Dropped,” in which four men are sent to remote locations to record their foreign escapades.
On Tuesday, Greg Vosits, a doctoral student in educational psychology at the University of Connecticut, was on his way to Vienna for a six-week visit with his grandparents when he played the game and was rerouted to Cyprus. Heineken gave him $2,000 to cover expenses and booked him two nights in a hotel.
“I had no idea where in the world I would be traveling,” Vosits told The New York Times. “I was definitely on the fence, but decided to go with the flow.”
As Heineken works to expand its international market and build an adventurous, Millennial consumer base, the message of "drop everything," and "go anywhere" may just be a hit.
Fun stories about food, relationships, the great outdoors and more.