by contributor Brendan Kownacki
Forget the elephant or the 300 pound gorilla ….. there was a long necked, long legged Giraffe sharing space with onlookers at the Newseum yesterday.
It’s usually celebrities or politicians that stop people in their tracks, but there’s another way to draw a crowd…..and that’s just what happened when flocks of pedestrians noticed a 12 foot tall giraffe outside the Newseum.
Named Dude – no, not that one – and hailing from Florida, the giraffe posed for pictures, chewed on straws and made faces at the crowd (sticking his signature black tongue out). But what was Dude doing at the Newseum?
Residence Inn and Marriott invited Dude to town as a part of a new promotional effort to premiere an upcoming ad campaign. “It’s not a room, it’s a residence” they reminded us–explaining that extended-stay is different when it comes to hotels…….guests need more, and this is what they offer.
Especially when traveling for an extended period, guests need to be able to “maintain their normal routine” said Diane Mayer, Vice President and Global Brand Manager for Residence Inn. “You don’t eat and work and check your email just in your bedroom” she added, explaining that at Residence, they have tried to create zones in each room that make people feel like they have all the space needed to live a normal life.
The ad campaign features an array of wild animals including a giraffe, who are seen on camera basking in the spacious accommodations of Residence Inn. If they can handle a giraffe or an elephant, certainly the particular traveler can make use of the open spaces.
All Residence properties are pet-friendly for the vacationer who doesn’t want to leave their loyal companions behind explained Mayer. “We don’t get a lot of requests for giraffes or elephants…but dogs and cats are fine.”
