Rob Shoesmith says he could be camped out in front of a London Apple Store for as long as a month to secure a front-of-the-line spot for the upcoming iPhone 5. The former garbage man, 29, may need a semi truck to cart off all the non-Apple swag he's been collecting from individuals and companies that want in on the publicity stunt as well.
The only hitch—Shoesmith, a marketer for U.S.-based MEDL Mobile, is banking on Apple somehow hinting at the release of its next-generation smartphone several weeks before it hits the U.K.'s Apple Stores.
"I'm waiting until Apple sends emails to the press, those sort of 'Please join us' notices they usually send out," he told PCMag Monday. Earlier, it had been erroneously reported by some media outlets that Shoesmith was already camped in front of London's flagship Apple Store at Covent Garden.
"Even I'm not mental enough to do that," he laughed. "What happened was that about three weeks ago, this one blog got it mixed up and said I was already camped out by the Apple Store. Then one credible journalist posted that and some other sites didn't do their homework and now the story's spread worldwide really fast and it's sort of nuts.
"When I started the blog a couple months ago, I knew it would get some interest, but I didn't imagine this," Shoesmith added, referring to the blog he's set up to document what he calls "an experiment to see if it's possible to live off of Apple's huge marketing influence."
To that end, Shoesmith has been pulling out the stops to solicit freebies from companies who want some of the attention generated by his iPhone 5 campout. To hear him tell it, he's already received offers for goods and services worth tens of thousands of dollars.
These include the actual camping gear one might expect for such a stunt, but also offers for everything from a haircut from a "mobile hairdresser" while he's camped out to a laundry company's pledge to swing by from time to time to pick up and wash his dirty clothes.
"There's a deodorant company that wants to drive down a bunch of promotional girls to give me a shower," Shoesmith said. "My girlfriend's not too happy about that."
The whole endeavor bears some resemblance to the stunts of American illusionist and endurance artist David Blaine—a comparison Shoesmith chuckled about.
"Well, I might have a magician lined up for entertainment. I've got some wild things planned and I'm going to have a lot of time on my hands," he said. One U.K. record label has offered to send out several musicians to perform acoustic sets during the campout.
"I'll sort of have my own festival," he said.
As for food, Shoesmith has already been sent a ton of candy. He's also heard from a baker who wants to serve up a giant cake shaped like an iPhone while he's on line. It sounds like he may want to start lining up a visit with a dentist when he finally gets that iPhone.
When that will actually happen is anybody's guess. Competing rumors that have cropped up in recent weeks put the iPhone 5's release date anywhere from early September to sometime in October.
Shoesmith, meanwhile, already has plans for his next stunt. He wants to visit every Apple Store in the U.S., funding the trip with a new iPhone app developed on MEDL Mobile's App Incubator service.
"The idea would be that I could only use the previous day's takings for travel expenses," he said "So if we got like 2,000 downloads, I could take limo to the next Apple Store, but if it was only a couple, I'd have to hitchhike.
Source:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2390676,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000762
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