out of the box :: The awesome world of digital

The Intern Abuser

On October 10th and 11th this year, people around the globe can let off some steam by abusing an intern in real time. A series of robotic contraptions will be set up for people to have some fun with. Simply pick your method of pain, get in line and unleash it on the unsuspecting victim. It’s a little cruel yes, but will it be fun? I imagine so.

What’s more, it seem that the stunt is created by an agency to showcase their innovation, not a brand. I guess there aren’t many brands that are willing to sucker punch a guy in the face with a robotic arm. It’s a nice idea, in a similar vein to Shoot the Truck earlier this year, and I know I’ll be tuning in next month to see how it unfolds.

Check out the site for yourself here.

Skippy the robot

According to Sun Valley Idaho, 100% of people want to skip stones in the summer. Unfortunately, 99% of them can’t. Why? Because they don’t have the luxury of a wide expansive lake in the city. Well, they think they may just have the solution. Meet Skippy the robot. Log onto the site, get in the queue and skip a real stone in a real lake. Thus, bringing you closer to nature and the wonderful things you can do while visiting Sun Valley. It’s a cool use of a real-world situation and digital that offers people something fun and different to do. Love it.

McDonald’s hijack train timetables in Warsaw

We’ve all been there. Your train delayed, and you’re not sure if you have time to nip to a fast food place, or if you’ll have time to eat it before your train leaves. Well, McDonald’s may have just the solution for confused, hungry passengers. A large digital display was erected in the station displaying real time train information. The creative twist? On top of displaying how many minutes there were left till your train, it also showed how much food and drink you could shove in your face. 10 minutes wait? You can shovel a Big Mac AND fries before the whistle blows. It’s an innovative use of real time data that offers real use to commuters, while driving people into restaurants.

What are your thoughts? Useful, or simply a nasty way of getting people to scoff more burgers?

Twisted Metal - Shoot my truck

To launch the new Twisted Metal game for Playstation 3, people are getting the chance to take control of a real automatic gun and fire it at a Twisted Metal ice-cream truck. What better way to spend this Valentines Day than shooting your load on a semi-automatic. Genius.

Take control of the gun yourself over at the site. You can also see the uncensored version of the launch video…. damn you YouTube!

O2 create real-time campaign with Santa

This year, O2 in the UK have created a digital campaign that sees Santa take to twitter to spread real-time messages to anyone that tweets him with the hashtag #O2santa. For one week, they are creating lots of personalised content that can be shared by the audience. I know, it all smells a little bit like Old Spice. But, can we let them off? I mean, it is Christmas.