Often cold weather or communism or beautiful women come to the mind of someone when they think about Russia. Russia is famous for its literature, art, and architecture. That is what probably everyone will think about when thinking about Russia. Or even if there is anything else one would think about Russia, it surely wouldn’t be ‘Men in Bikinis’.
In this rapidly changing world, people apply different tactics to attract more customers. Various marketing strategies are worked upon to get more attention from consumers. However, a gas station doesn’t need to apply any such tactic as petrol has gradually become a basic need. Any government or private institution cannot afford to offer free gas to the public for any period. Yet the owner of the Olvi gas station in Samara, Russia announced a public offer of free petrol to anyone who showed up in bikinis. It was done as a promotional event. It was probably done to lure females sporting bikini to the gas station, however, the offer did not specify that it was meant only for females.
The unexpected turn of events surprised everyone when men took leverage of the loophole and turned up sporting bikinis, following which the offer was reduced to three hours time period. Some men went the extra mile by pairing up the bikinis with heels. Both males and females showed up wearing a one-piece or two-piece bikinis to take advantage of the offer.
It became a massive frenzy on the microblogging website – Twitter when the offer went global with the #BikiniDress trend. Though the offer lasted for just three hours it gave a lot to laugh and cheer about to the rest of the world when pictures of men sporting bikinis circulated on the internet.
This marketing tactic was heavily criticized for its sexist approach, nevertheless, it became a memorable and fun day when due to the sporting spirit of Russian men.
However, this is not the first time something like this has happened. In the year 2015, a gas station in Kiev, Ukraine did the same marketing stunt and didn’t mention the gender of the client. Men showed up wearing bikinis for free gas, after all, who would abstain from free fuel in a world where people just do everything they can to save fuel.