Free trials that don't harm a brand

'Free trial' can be a dirty phrase, but here's some examples that don't feel like brands buying your love.


1. Burger King's 'Sacrifice a Friend' promotion manages to do advocacy in an elegant way. You simply sacrifice a 10 friends for a free whopper.

2. Ricola's Mystery Cougher promotion gives a brilliant reason for trial and advocacy to total strangers. You just have to give a Ricola cough sweet to a mystery cougher to win up to a million dollars. Of course, you don't know who the mystery cougher is.

3. Get a free iTunes track with every Coke. Totally simple way to launch iTunes.



4. Outdoor outfitter Northland Professional gives away its gear on billboards. Hats, gloves and scarves have been attached to 50 billboards around Graz in Austria. OK, so it really is just a big cash splash, but still, it's appropriate to give away warm gear when you're outside in chilly Austria.