And no, that doesn't mean you can buy the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Girls over the counter!
Although, our own Hustler De Tuti Hustlers Paul Heyman did suggest something like that when he saw AUBREY O'DAY'S SECRET TATTOOS on that infamous episode of THE HEYMAN HUSTLE from legendary New York City nightclub owner Noel Ashman's sweet celeb hot spot PlummNYC.
Here's what it does mean: Sports Illustrated has launched an aggressive campaign to the doesn't-need-promotion annual swimsuit edition of the publication. First step in the marketing campaign: Barcodes!
We kid you not.
Print ads containing the promotional barcodes will begin to appear on January 25th, just two weeks before the uber-hyped issue’s February 9th publication date. The ads will run in Sports Illustrated and other Time Inc. titles like Time, People and Fortune. Nothing like synergy, my fellow Hustlers!
The barcodes also will appear on Las Vegas hotel room keys and in New York City subway car ads. West Coast gamblers, East Coast commuters, all covered. More hustlin'!
Users who snap a photo of the barcode with a camera phone will see photos of this year’s “rookie class,” or first-time swimsuit issue models.
“I don’t know that it needs promotion, but we like to drum up excitement about it,” Charlie Saunders, executive director of integrated marketing for the SI Group, said of the swimsuit issue in an interview earlier this week. JagTag, whose barcodes have also appeared in Wired, Playboy and USA Today, believes this is the 1st time a publisher has used barcodes in other media to promote its own publication, said Dudley Fitzpatrick, CEO of JagTag, and someone who should ask for access to all the out takes of the photo sessions. Hey, we're just sayin'.
SI tested the barcode technology from JagTag last June to launch the online archives of its swimsuit issue.
SI also is exploring running barcodes in the swimsuit issue itself that would link to behind-the-scenes mobile videos of the model shoots and is talking to potential advertisers. We like that idea. So far, we like all the ideas. We also like all the models. We also like this preview video, which you can check out below.
CHECK OUT THIS EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW VIDEO
OF THE SPORTS ILLUSTRATED 2010 SWIMSUIT EDITION!
THE HEYMAN HUSTLE IS PLEASED TO PRESENT THE 15
HOTTEST, WILDEST, MOST INTERESTING STORIES FROM
THE WEB. ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS PICK A PIC AND CLICK!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
