When R-F Pasta, also known as Red Cross in some markets, wanted to generate a spike in sales in the Midwest, they figured a sweepstakes was just the ticket.

We recommended they give away a kitchen, but not just any kitchen - a Kitchen Unsurpasta, a high-end kitchen with custom cabinets and appliances from Sub-Zero, Thermador and Jenn-Air, the very top-line manufacturers at the time.

In 22 markets between Chicago and Denver, on the strength of this ad - a half-page newspaper insert in Sunday papers - a black-and-white version that ran in Wednesday food sections, each just once, and minimal other media exposure, the sweepstakes generated 225,000 entries. That's an
average of 10,000 entries per market - and some of those markets only had 10,000 people in them!