Date published: 01.09.08 - not release date

Stena Line ad campaign inspires extreme ironing craze

An advertising campaign for Ferry Company Stena Line has inspired a spate of strange behaviour among extreme sport fans.

The ad features a group of young people packing the car and heading off on an ‘extreme ironing’ trip. It has had the company’s staff and members of the general public taking to hill and dale with their ironing boards in an attempt to outdo each other in the pursuit of capturing the most outrageous extreme ironing photograph in the most outlandish location.

For the uninitiated, extreme ironing is an outdoor activity that started in Leicester in 1997 when a bored factory worker decided he could not face the huge pile of ironing in his living room and decided to head up the nearest mountain to complete this household chore. Ten years later, 1000's of people have had their photos taken doing the ironing under water, on cliff tops, in woods and in incongruous public places and since the launch of Stena Line’s ads, the company claims many more people are taking up this quirky pastime.

Stena Line has set up a website at www.goextremeironing.com to allow those taking part to submit their photographs with the hope of winning free travel and other goodies. The company has also included an extreme ironing day trip!

Enthusiasts can pack the car with their ironing boards and their friends and travel to Ireland on the Stena HSS for a days hiking in Ireland from as little as £27 per person based on a car and four people travelling.

Stena Line’s Head of Travel Market on the Irish Sea, Paul Grant, says the new ads and the extreme sport behind them have really created a buzz among staff and customers.

“The ad campaign and the goextremeironing.com website are fun ways to reflect our commitment to making sure that our customers have the best possible experience with us,” says Paul.

“Our new 'My Stena Line' advertising campaign was enormous fun to work on and that has been reflected in the response we have had from our staff and the public. The website has only been up and running for a month but already 100's of photos have been submitted. We have put the best ones up online and we would encourage more people to pack the car for an extreme ironing adventure and send in their pictures as there are free trips and other prizes up for grabs,” added Paul.

For more info about extreme ironing and how you can get involved and win prizes, click on www.goextremeironing.com.

About Stena Line

In the UK alone, Stena Line offers over 30 daily crossings on its five different routes to Ireland (Stranraer to Belfast, Fleetwood to Larne, Holyhead to Dublin, Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire and Fishguard to Rosslare) as well as two daily crossings on its Harwich to Hoek van Holland route providing fast and efficient crossings with excellent onboard services and facilities.

Stena Line Limited
Stena House
Station Approach
Holyhead
Anglesey
LL65 1DQ
info.uk@stenaline.com
Tel: 08705 70 70 70
http://www.stenaline.co.uk/