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To: JakeStraw who wrote (21356)	7/7/2000 2:10:06 PM
From: SIer formerly known as Joe B.	Respond to of 49843

Men's Lipstick Becomes Idea Before Its Time news.excite.com Updated 7:00 AM ET July 7, 2000 TORONTO (Reuters) - Commuters were startled last month when close-up photos of a man's unshaven face with lips painted deep purple or lime green began appearing as advertisements on buses and streetcars in Toronto, Canada's most populous city. Only a Web site address (http://www.shadesformen.com) accompanied the ads. The Internet site, in turn, beckoned the bemused with the same brightly colored lips, and asked a series of questions about the whole idea of lipstick for men. But the product, as it turned out, was a complete fake. It was all designed to gauge effectiveness of advertising on the city's buses. "We made up a product that is not advertised anywhere else in the world and is, in fact, not available -- it might be available somewhere, we just don't know -- but we want to gauge public reaction besides the number of people that come on to our Web site," said Richard Bridgman, vice-president and marketing manager at TDI Canada, which handles advertising for Toronto's transit system. "Why lipstick? I guess it has the added value of it's really something that people will take notice of and talk about," said Bridgman. The Web site has averaged 150 hits a day and elicits responses from both men and women, mainly in the 18-49 age group. There was even a lot of interest to buy the nonexistent product. Bridgman admitted the ad campaign was not TDI's idea but copied from a similar series launched in Dublin, Ireland, a few years ago. The Toronto ad campaign began on June 5 and will run for eight weeks. "You want people to take notice and for people to talk about it," Bridgman said.