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Softdrink ad on the moon, soon

RainDreamer

By RainDreamer
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RainDreamer

RainDreamer

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http://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/18/get-ready-for-ads-on-the-moon-starting-with-this-japanese-sports-drink-pocari-sweat.html

Pocari Sweat, a japanese drink company has booked a spot in Space X 2016 mission where they would land a rover on the moon, and the payload will be a single can of Pocari Sweat placed near a giant crater named Bürg. The can will be specially designed to withstand the environment of space, and the content will be a powdered form of the drink. The goal is for future astronaut to one day being able to drink from that very can once we have a moon base up there and use moon water to make the drink drinkable again.

The cost of the product placement is undisclosed, but considering Space x charged only about $1.2 million/kg of cargo to the moon comparing to a $8 million price tag for a 1 min ad spot during the superbowl, this is well within the budget of companies wanting to place their ads in more exotic locations.

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nightingale

nightingale

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Truth is stranger than fiction - this is almost right out of Robert A Heinlein's The Man Who Sold the Moon:

To solve the tougher financial problems, Harriman exploits commercial and political rivalries. He implies to the Moka-Coka company, for example, that rival soft drink maker 6+ plans to turn the Moon into a massive billboard, using a rocket to scatter black dust on the surface in patterns.
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vger

vger

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See, I was expecting something more like the Heinlein "paint the Moon" ads and not just a can of dehydrated sweat.

That's what I was afraid of. I keep dreading the day when I can't look at the sky without seeing a frikking iPhone ad in the Sea of Tranquility.

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Camacha

Camacha

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I guess we should go to mars to escape em' shouldn't we?

A reliable source told me there are all sorts of NASA branded rovers roaming around those parts of the solar system, and a couple of other machines too. Product placement if I ever saw any.

Edited by Camacha
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NovaSilisko

NovaSilisko

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The way the article was written has me cringing.

In the latter half of 2016, an American firm devoted to space exploration, Space X, plans to land a rover on the moon.

Okay, first of all it's SpaceX and not Space X, and in any case SpaceX aren't making a lunar rover. The article then subsequently states:

The firm, Astrobotic,

So they got their own facts screwed up within the span of a few paragraphs. Great.

This is just a short-term PR stunt if you ask me, and I don't expect it to really come to pass.

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razark

razark

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The cost of the product placement is undisclosed, but considering Space x charged only about $1.2 million/kg of cargo to the moon comparing to a $8 million price tag for a 1 min ad spot during the superbowl, this is well within the budget of companies wanting to place their ads in more exotic locations.

But seeing as the point of an advertisement is to be noticed, is it really that effective? Sure, it'll catch the attention of a few people now. Then it will be quickly forgotten. It won't even be seen by more than a handful of people. I could just as easily claim I was putting my own product on the moon, and hardly anyone would know the difference.

...SpaceX aren't making a lunar rover.

It doesn't say they are building it, just landing it. NASA didn't build the LMs, but they did land them on the moon.

The article then subsequently states:

So they got their own facts screwed up within the span of a few paragraphs.

The article says "The US firm designing the rover..." and continues in the next paragraph, where it calls out the name of the company, "The firm, Astrobotic...".

It doesn't get it screwed up. It simply states that SpaceX is landing a rover designed by Astrobotic.

Edited by razark
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BagelRabbit

BagelRabbit

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Pshaw, that's nothing.

JPL (the Jet Propulsion Laboratory) put its name in Morse code on each of the Curiosity Rover's tires:

curiosity-wheel.jpg

...and so every time the wheels turn, the letters "JPL" are stamped in the ruddy Martian dust. JPL... JPL... JPL...

Given, this is supposed to give an accurate measurement of how far the rover's driven (simply look back on the tracks and count the number of JPL's to determine distance). But c'mon people! This is akin to red-planet graffiti!

We must petition NASA to send up a manned mission to replace the Curiosity Rover's tires before Mars becomes too much more desecrated by the tire tracks. It's the only way to make the madness stop! Perhaps more importantly, it's yet another reason to put boots on Mars. C'mon guys! Let's get some signatures!

/joking

-Upsilon

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RainDreamer

RainDreamer

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But seeing as the point of an advertisement is to be noticed, is it really that effective? Sure, it'll catch the attention of a few people now. Then it will be quickly forgotten. It won't even be seen by more than a handful of people. I could just as easily claim I was putting my own product on the moon, and hardly anyone would know the difference.

Well, as the article wrote, the goal is not for the stunt of being on the moon now, but to be the first commercial product being drunk by astronauts on the moon in the future, using moon water to rehydrate it. At that point, they can go down in history, or at least wikipedia. And I think they have the money to spare anyway.

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Camacha

Camacha

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Well, as the article wrote, the goal is not for the stunt of being on the moon now, but to be the first commercial product being drunk by astronauts on the moon in the future, using moon water to rehydrate it. At that point, they can go down in history, or at least wikipedia. And I think they have the money to spare anyway.

That is never going to happen. No astronaut is going to be sent there for this reason, and I doubt that the food and container will be deemed safe, coming from an external source.

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NuclearNut

NuclearNut

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But seeing as the point of an advertisement is to be noticed, is it really that effective? Sure, it'll catch the attention of a few people now. Then it will be quickly forgotten. It won't even be seen by more than a handful of people. I could just as easily claim I was putting my own product on the moon, and hardly anyone would know the difference.

And that handful of people were reached for in essence, free. It is good advertising.

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RainDreamer

RainDreamer

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Makes me think though...will there be one day orbital billboard flying around the earth at one point? Satellite with massive screen displaying ads beamed up from earth. and you can charge premium for that. I am sure astronomers and people will be quite angry with the sky tained by ads though.

Imagine a romantic night with your significant other, as you both watch the full moon over the beach. Then an ad zip over the horizon.

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JetJaguar

JetJaguar

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You know what? I'm not just cool with this, but excited about it.

Let companies shovel money at Space X instead of the NFL. Tell you what. I volunteer to personally place that can on the moon. :D

Same here, I don't see what the big deal with sponsorship is. Space is expensive, and that money has to come from somewhere. Clearly the public isn't interested in funding space flight, so if a company wants to slap their logo on the side of a rover, why not? Who else is going to pay for it? The only sport I really follow is auto racing, so I guess I'm desensitized to corporate sponsorship, but when the "Petronas Mercedes AMG Rover (presented by Pepsi)" lands on Mars, I'll be cool with that.

BTW, the advertising value for this stunt isn't for any audience on the moon, but the publicity here on Earth surrounding the mission. It's already working - we're talking about the company now, and they haven't spent a dime yet.

Edited by JetJaguar
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LordFerret

LordFerret

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...

Imagine a romantic night with your significant other, as you both watch the full moon over the beach. Then an ad zip over the horizon.

Here along the shore in NJ, planes fly back and forth dragging advertising banners... all. day. long.

So, yea.

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