• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, July 15, 2010

Figurative allusions to fish and fishing figure big in the business world -- getting a nibble from a client, casting a wide net, fishing where the fish are, big fish in a small pond, and so on. But online ad agency Pereira & O'Dell is taking the whole "fishing-as-business" metaphor to a level that can literally be described as epic, with a maritime publicity stunt that involves putting two staffers on a small-ish 32-foot Drift Gillnet fishing boat and sending them to the fishing village of Naknek, Alaska, population 2,000, in whose adjacent waters they will attempt to catch 100,000 pounds of salmon. In their down time, staffers Russell Dodson and Ross Cavin attempt to perform the duties expected of advertising copywriters.

Amply documented with its own microsite, the voyage from June 19-July 10 has some amusing -- here it comes -- fish-out-of-water elements, pairing POD's two not-so-crusty-looking creative types with an old nautical cove, Captain Mike, who is responsible for preventing them from getting killed and showing them how to actually, you know, catch fish. And at this they have proved surprisingly successful: one haul, measuring 15,000-20,000 pounds, almost sank the plucky little boat.

One question which some readers may be asking themselves at this point is: why? Turns out it all makes sense: POD is using the stunt to raise awareness and funds for the Greater New Orleans Foundation Gulf Coast cleanup and relief efforts, which primarily supports local fishermen. In addition to presumably selling all those fish, POD is raising money by selling nautically-themed merchandise including a variety of men's and women's T-shirts, hoodies, hats, BBQ aprons, beer steins, and travel mugs at zazzle.com/Naknek. Contributions to the GNOF effort can also be made by visiting gnof.org.