Throw Elmo from the Plane
Ten years ago - almost to the day - Tickle me Elmo was all the rage. Moms are calling asking where to buy it. They were sold out everywhere. I had a contact though. Linda, my next door neighbor, worked at Target. She did some investigative work, and learned of one final shipment of 12 arriving the next day. She pulled one out for me - I bought it - and had the hot toy to give away. But how? What was I gonna do? We thought about burying it. Maybe hide it somewhere and give clues. Throw it out of an airplane. HAHA. That "crack’ - led us to what we decided to do. We couldn’t of course, throw Elmo from a plane - but we could strap Elmo to a parachutist. Simply announce that somewhere over the city was a small plane. In seconds a parachutist will jump out. be the first to "tag" the parachutist - and win the Elmo. The day & time came and things went off without a hitch. We landed Elmo on our cities busy west side on a weekday @ 8am. The parachute was seen by thousands - who ALL knew what was going on - by the crowd gathered - and the ensuing rush. The parachutist was literally TACKLED by a listener. The TV stations were tipped off and the whole thing was broadcast on the news that night. It was a cute promo for $35. The Mid America Parachute Club in Taylorville came through for us that day and specifically Michael Ayers, who strapped on Elmo. Tragically, Michael lost his life just a few years later in a parachuting accident.
