Because of incorrect information provided by a representative of the Passion Group marketing company, a March 28 article said that condoms were placed in rooms at the Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort in Panama City Beach, Fla., as part of a promotional effort for spring break. The company distributes condoms at some hotels, but not at the SunSpree Resort.
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An Ocean Of Promotion
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"Absolutely not," she says. "Because it sounds like dollars."
If you watch things carefully here, the messages in the sky and the messages in the sand, you begin to wonder. At what precise moment did we cease to be surprised by ads on our coffee sleeves? When did bags of swag, for so long the exclusive province of celebrities, make their way down to the masses? And when we get something for free, is it really free?
On a rainy evening, reps for the Victoria's Secret's swimwear line and the Victoria's Secret sub-brand Pink come to the SunSpree lobby to do a little research. They're giving away bikinis, bags and makeup to survey-takers. The questions are about where and with whom the young women shopped for spring break necessities, how often they use fragrance and what month they start buying swimsuits.
One researcher says she's noticed how much the girls love sequins on their bathing suits. One notes the pride a young woman takes in her Abercrombie bikini, the way she points at the logo. Still another says she is listening for verbal cues. (It was during research like this in Miami last year, says Victoria's Secret Direct copywriter Sarah Stark, that Pink discovered its demographic prefers the word "underwear" to "panty.")
Michelle Finney dashes out of the lobby of the SunSpree, clutching a yellow Victoria's Secret bikini like it's the Golden Fleece. She shows it to three friends waiting in a car, and they run inside to get their own free stuff.
"Can you believe that?" Finney asks in exhilaration. She is 19 and goes to school in Muncie, Ind. "I was like, 'Wait, you get the top and the bottom?' and they were like, 'Yeah.' "
While she waits for her friends, Finney explains how they wound up here. They'd left the hotel so their friend Tiffanie Pence could get a tattoo, but Pence thought she'd forgotten her ID, so they had to turn around and drive back to the hotel. At which point they noticed the commotion in the lobby and Finney went in to investigate. And we find out later that Pence only thought she forgot her ID; she had it with her the whole time.
So here we all are, and maybe it feels a little like fate. Or the marketers' intelligent design.
Pence comes out proudly carrying a pink tote bag that says "Victoria's Secret" in sparkly letters.
"Are you so excited?" Finney asks.
"I am, like, the most excited," Pence says.
"It's so cute," Finney says.
"I'm really excited," Pence says.
The other two friends come back, each carrying a free blue bikini, and after a brief discussion of the benefits of the Venus Breeze razor's built-in shave gel ("You don't need any shaving cream," Finney explains), they are off to the tattoo parlor.
The foursome return some time later, with Pence sporting a bandage on her ankle. They go across the lobby and get their evening makeup done (for free) at the Venus Breeze spa.
It's a fabulous life.
