The Guardian’s Stephens Brooks reports:
With a recent Saturday edition of The Sun, the popular British newspaper offered readers two free green lightbulbs.
A promotional success that busted circulation to nearly 4m copies.
Sales soared by 408,000 copies compared with the previous Saturday after the Sun offered readers two free energy-saving lightbulbs, which they could pick up at newsagents and supermarkets selling the paper.
The Sun turned half of its front page green for the promotion, which offered the eco-friendly lightbulbs to readers who bought the paper at more than 4,000 independent newsagents and stores including Tesco, Asda, WH Smith, Sainsbury’s, Somerfield and Morrisons.
“Help save the world – and £13 into the bargain,” the paper told readers, saying that the £4 pack of light bulbs, provided by Southern Electric, could lead to power bill savings of £9 annually for each reader.
The Sun also offered readers the chance to win an eco-friendly Toyota Prius Hybrid.
Last weekend the Daily Mail attempted a spoiler, offering readers two free energy saving bulbs “worth £6″.
But the Mail failed to put in place a distribution deal and readers had to send for their bulbs in the post.
Roy Greenslade recaps:
The Sun has been awarded a Guinness World Record accolade for giving away two energy-saving lightbulbs per copy with its January 19 issue
In the end, some 4.5m lightbulbs were given away and, once fitted, it is estimated that they could save up to £20m off the UK energy bill and up to 387,000 tonnes of CO2.