Fashion retailer’s dressing room mirror adds firefighter surprise for women

November 25, 2011 by Dave Haynes

Stu Armstrong of ComQi posted a tweet this morning about a women’s apparel store in my neck of the woods that took an entirely different approach to the whole augmented reality-virtual dressing room mirror thing.

Instead of letting women try on different virtual outfits, they try on real outfits and then go over to a big mirror, where a couple of good-looking firemen materialize and gush over the person.

Very clever.

[youtube id=”Tird66YQbZA” width=”600″ height=”350″]

The TrendHunter marketing blog had more details:

Imagine trying on an outfit at a store and looking into the mirror, only to see two firemen in front of you! This is what shoppers experienced at the Penningtons’ Mississauga, Ontario, location as part of Penningtons Styled to Surprise campaign.

An initiative created by DDB Canada to give “plus-size fashion a makeover,” the Penningtons Styled to Surprise campaign featured a “magic mirror” triggered by a motion sensor. Once a shopper stepped on a strategically placed rectangle on the floor, two firemen appeared in the mirror, descending from poles. The firemen would looked appreciatively at the shopper’s outfit and then proceeded to compete against each other for her attention—for instance, one would offer the shopper flowers while the other would draw a heart on the mirror.

According to the video description, those who share the Penningtons Styled to Surprise video will get a chance to win a $1,000 shopping spree for themselves and a friend.

The social aspect is also a smart move, though the website seriously undersells this program. Overall, a nice little project using (presumably) projectors and Vikuiti (or other) film. DDB, by the way, is a Canadian creative agency. Mississauga is part of greater Toronto.