Sunny

I noticed hundreds of pink flamingos along Michigan Avenue earlier this week. It turns out that here were not hundreds of them, but 10,000. Upon closer inspection, they all had an AirTran ribbons around their necks. I logged into the AirTran website and found out that they all are for a clever promotion & contest for AirTran.

Photo byartdude75, original photos at
Flickr

Photo byartdude75, original photos at
Flickr

Photo byartdude75, original photos at
Flickr

Photo byartdude75, original photos at
Flickr

From the AirTran website:

Win a Free* Flight for You and Eight Friends or Family Members!

10,000 pink flamingos have accidentally flown off their migration route and landed in the blustery winter of downtown Chicago. Among the flock, we have lost AirTran Airwayse' prized possession — our Florida mascot, Sunny the Teal Flamingo.

For the return of this prized bird, we're offering the successful sleuth free* flights for you and eight family or friends to any of AirTran Airways' Florida destinations!

Clues to Finding our Flamingos
If you are an AirTran Airways A+ Rewards Member, congratulations — you will have an edge on the competition. Simply login to your A+ Rewards account, and look for the pink flamingo on the A+ Rewards Member home page. The flamingo will link you to clues, updated daily, on the whereabouts of our flighty bird.

So I decided that I was going to see if I could find Sunny the Teal Flamingo. AirTran started posting clues on their website Tuesday. I knew by from the last clue Thursday, which was something along the line of:

Sunny has touched down in a place make from the remnants of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

I knew that Grant Park was made from the rubble of the Great Fire pushed into Lake Michigan. I knew definitely that Sunny was in Grant Park from the clue posted this morning:

Sunny has touched down in a place that is named after the 18th president of the US

(Duh, Ulysses S Grant) So this confirmed my suspicions that he was in Grant Park.

I got downtown at about 9:45 this morning, thinking that I would go to Grant Park finding lots of people looking for this damn bird only to find out that someone had already found it.

I get to Grant Park and find no one there. I start thinking that this bird is not going to be in the middle of a field, so I decide to start looking around the bushes. Sure enough, Sunny was right next to a bush. I wasn’t looking for him but for 5 minutes!

At first I get excited, but see that sunny is just spray painted teal with a magic marker saying “YOU WON,” “YOU FOUND SUNNY!,” & a telephone number on the bird. I knew from the official rules that there would be a telephone number on the bird if a “promotions official is not present.” I left a voicemail at the number & received a call back. She took my info & I got a call from some people that took some official info. I am supposed to hear back from the AirTran legal department Monday to trade off the bird & claim the prize. So I’ve won, but it’s not quite official yet!




If this is not some cruel joke by someone that has already found the the teal flamingo, Florida here I come!!!!!