Recruiting a former Baywatch star to hand out free potato chips and beer may sound like a cheap publicity stunt, but for one British brand, it actually helped boost sales.
Judges at an award ceremony for the advertising industry evaluated marketing campaigns for the first time on how much product they sold, not just whether they made people laugh, cry or cringe.
The winner, a U.K. campaign for PepsiCo's Walkers potato chips, brought Pamela Anderson and other celebrities into the sleepy British town of Sandwich, Kent, to illustrate the tagline: "Walkers can make any sandwich more exciting."
Footage of the surprise appearances and the residents' shocked reactions got spread around on sites like YouTube.
The new prize was handed out Saturday at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.