• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer, July 8, 2013

Discounts are great, but free is better. To promote the eye-tracking technology built inside the Samsung Galaxy S4, Perfect Fools created a contest that rewarded winners with a free Samsung Galaxy S4.

The catch was eye-popping.

Displays commissioned by HEIMAT, agency of record for Swisscom, were erected in various Swiss cities, such as Zurich, Lucerne, Bern and Lausanne, that encouraged passersby to stare at a Galaxy G4 placed inside a City Light Poster. If users could stare at the phone, uninterrupted for one hour, they won a Galaxy G4, while giving new meaning to the concept of something for nothing.

Staring uninterrupted for a minute or longer gave players a discount off purchasing a Galaxy G4. The longer the stare, the bigger the discount.

This concept doesn’t sound  that difficult; kids have staring contests with their friends all the time. But watching the same image for 60 minutes in a crowded, pedestrian-laden area has its challenges.

It’s especially hard when extreme distractions were thrown in, hoping to force players to look toward the action. Barking police dogs, wayward musicians, screaming tourists, a hotdog vendor and a motorcycle crashing into a flower stand were just a few of the stunts pulled. Most worked, but in a video, seen here, we see one lone man who stayed focused and kept his eyes on the prize.