I’m always trying to come up with new ways to advertise and had to laugh when I came across this story by By EMILY FREDRIX for the The Associated Press

“Fast-food chain KFC is giving two Indiana cities $7,500 so it can emblazon founder Colonel Sanders’ face on their hydrants and fire extinguishers to promote new “fiery” chicken wings.

Experts say to expect more ads like this, on public property from sewer grates to the local landfill, as companies look to cut through the clutter of traditional advertising. Cash-strapped governments have long sold space on mass transit, benches, trash cans and other public property to help stretch budgets.

KFC told Indianapolis and nearby Brazil, Ind., it wanted to improve their fire safety by helping pay for new hydrants and extinguishers in exchange for advertising on them. The company plans to e-mail a national network of mayors on Wednesday to find three more cities to participate in the approximately $15,000, monthlong effort, which began Tuesday.

Alternative marketing efforts like this have been growing as people become immune to advertising in print, outdoors and on television, said Allen Adamson, managing director of branding firm Landor Associates in New York.

“I think it’s the tip of an iceberg of things to come as marketers struggle to find places to reach consumers and as cities look for ways to squeeze more dollars,” Adamson said.

Laura Ries, president of marketing consulting firm Ries&Ries outside Atlanta, said marketers must find new places to reach consumers.

“People ignore advertising, they try to get away from it whenever possible,” she said. “So hitting them in unusual and unlikely places, at least initially, is likely to get some attention.”

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What a great idea.  Governments are broke, big companies have money to spend.  Advertising can work if people stop to take notice, especially if it’s really weird and garners free publicity.  So, putting a business ad on an unexpected place can do wonders.

Here’s a few more weird advertising ideas:

1. On top of coffee lids – You don’t expect to see a marketing message staring up at you when taking that morning sip of coffee.
2. On a competitor’s product – This may be difficult to do but if you and a competitor advertise on each other’s products it would even out. This may attract free publicity, as well.
3. Inside the pages of books – Magazines have pages of ads, so why not books? There could be a special advertising section in books. This could provide very targeted advertising.
4. Straws – I’ve yet to see an ad on a McDonalds straw that I drink my Coca-Cola with.
5. Songs – We’ve seen product placement in movies and TV shows like Donald Trump’s The Apprentice, but I’ve yet to hear a product placement in a song. Imagine paying Britney Spears to sing about your product in the chorus of one of her hit pop songs that gets a lot of radio play… Hit me baby one more time – in the passenger seat of my brand-new 2008 Audi A4.
6. Beside the “nutrition facts” label of food products – This one might be geared more towards diet or weight loss types of companies. The people that actually look at these labels are probably more likely to notice that type of marketing message.
7. Emergency vehicles – Police, ambulance, fire trucks. That might be difficult to set up, but what better way for, say, a cash strapped police department to find revenue to hire more police officers than to sell some advertising space on their police cars?
8. Moon – I’m sure it can’t be done, and if it can it would cost too much. But, how about an advertisement on the face of the moon?
9. Eggs – One year CBS advertised their fall schedule on 35 million eggs.
10. Nighttime Silhouettes. You’ve probably never seen one of these… which means no one else in your town has seen one either. First, locate a tall wall in a part of town that has lots of traffic at night, especially foot traffic. Then arrange with the owner of that building – and the building across the street – to let you install a logo projector. They’re effective and cheap. In some situations you can even use an old slide projector to achieve the desired effect.
11. Publicity Stunt. Few things are as powerful as a publicity stunt that wins public attention. Going for inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records requires a lot of work, but holding a world record is extremely cool. Did you hear about the guy who dropped a golf ball at the edge of Mongolia, then whacked it 1,234 miles all the way to the other side? The journey required 12,170 swings of the club, 90 days and 510 lost balls. But he got interviewed by Jay Leno on The Tonight Show followed by The Today Show, CNN, CNN International, CTV, ESPN Cold Pizza, and PGA Tour Sunday. Articles were published about him in the New York Times and the Times of London. Then the Associated Press issued a worldwide story about the exploit. Outside Magazine featured him as one of its 25 Coolest People, the Men’s Journal put him in their Hall of Fame, National Public Radio broadcast their interview with him from coast to coast, then several European radio networks jumped on the bandwagon. Not a bad R.O.I. on a 90-day investment.
12. Telemarketer reversal. Why not turn the tables on those telemarketers that bother you? Start to tell them about your website and why they should visit it. It is a lot more fun than telling them ‘no thanks’ over and over again!
13. Answering machine. Do you have an answering machine? Telemarketers and other callers are people too! Leave a little blurp on your machine to visit your website and they just might.
14. Tattoo your body. This is a little extreme but you can tattoo your body with your websites URL or get somebody else to do it. I’ve seen this done on ebay before. Just as a side note, you can also do fake tattoos or a permanent marker just for once off situations.