Car Wash Company Hires Official Pigeon To ‘Mark’ Which Vehicles To Clean

Behind every great car wash is a bird with the runs, so it comes as a big surprise that a pigeon has been recruited as the ambassador of Take 5’s new sud-tacular campaign.

Take 5, which specializes in oil changes but washes cars too, was wondering how it could spread the word about its other service. And then the idea struck: Bird is the word.

In a counterintuitive move, Take 5 Car Wash found a pigeon in Dallas, Texas, one of the largest car cities in the US, and made it the brand’s ‘Official Pigeon’. This was no special pigeon—in fact, the promotional video proclaims that a “random pigeon” was picked off the streets—but it had a very special job of selecting which cars would be entitled to a free wash… by pooping on them.

Take 5’s crew attached a GPS tracker to the Official Pigeon, and it followed the mascot around to fulfill its mission of “dropping free washes” with a coo-pon reading: “Congrats on the bird poop… We’ve been following around the pigeon that ‘pointed’ your car, and now every car he poops on gets a FREE CAR WASH. Head to Take 5 Car Wash to redeem!”

The humorous initiative, created by advertising agency Erich and Kallman, launched on March 28, National Car Wash Day.

Eric Kallman, the agency’s co-founder and creative chief, tells Ad Age that the campaign has opened up the team to an “entire niche industry” of pigeon-tracking technology designed for the purpose of monitoring bird health. He says those who need to get hooked up to a pigeon-watcher should give his people a holler. “We know some folks.”

The pros his team has spoken to have said that a pigeon can take a dump every 15 minutes. The Official Pigeon didn’t respond to nature’s calls this many times, but it still blessed the city with plenty of free car washes that day.

The giveaway has taken flight in Nashville, Denver, Salt Lake City, Memphis, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Little Rock, Birmingham, New Orleans, and Columbus, Ohio. While the Official Pigeon wasn’t tapped to make the business trip, the offer still applies. Take 5 Car Wash members have gone around attaching flyers to cars that have been pooped on by birds.

Affected drivers can also head here for eligibility details.

[via Ad Age and Islander News, video and screenshots via Take 5 Car Wash]