In a move that blends Discovery Channel’s 5 Takes, The Amazing Race, and a fifth of your favorite “adult” beverage, rum maker Bacardi is financing a trip for 12 backpackers to trek from Spain to Russia via the Murmansk Route. The (hopefully) viral campaign is cataloged on the trek’s dedicated website, Bacardi Murmansk Route (my apologies if you’re lacking fluency en Espanol). The project launched last month and continues until every group has successfully completed the 6,000 kilometer journey. They have just 1,400 Euros to make the trip.
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Much like 5 Takes, each group will host vodcasts, and blog about their individual journeys along the way. User e-mails and comments will encourage the direction each group will take.
Their journey will conclude in Russia where the travelers will be handed a locked chest filled with unknown “treasure”. If Bacardi’s at all savvy about the needs of backpackers, it’ll be filled with a case of soap, a sub sandwich and a handle of (what else?) rum.
Sure, it’s an entirely transparent publicity and advertising stunt. But it’s still pretty damned cool.