Much to the chagrin of thousands of men who entered Roto-Rooter’s sweepstakes offering a tricked out toilet, a woman has claimed the prize.
Marcia Luhman, 55, a semi-retired Oro Valley, AZ, resident won the “Pimped Out John” valued at $5,000. She said she entered because she thought her 25-year-old son would like the prize.
“I did it as a joke because he is a little crazy and I knew he would enjoy it,” she told reps at Roto-Rooter.
The sweeps garnered 318,000 entries.
The high-end Kohler Cimarron commode has a flat-screen TV, gaming system, DVD player and other electronic gadgets attached to it. An iPod docking station is equipped with a toilet paper dispenser and the seat is covered in lime green fuzz.
The goal of the campaign was to bring in a younger demographic to boost the company’s core customer base of aging Boomers and beyond.
The winner was announced April 25, National Plumber’s Day. The toilet arrived at the winner’s home yesterday, with the option of a Roto-Rooter service person installing it, spokesperson Paul Abrams said.
Roto-Rooter used a $140,000 budget for the campaign that included notifying its 200,000 e-mail subscribers about the sweeps and placing videos on YouTube.com.
A major PR effort helped boost awareness. The Pimped Out John was mentioned on major broadcast shows including the “Today” show, “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, the BBC, as well as in hundreds of newspapers.
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