Zappos, Arby's Leap Day Ad Campaigns Spark Creativity

Online retailer Zappos, an Amazon subsidiary, will give its 1,600 employees a paid day off Monday. It plans to launch the Twitter hashtag campaign to spread the news.

The #TakeTheLeap campaign promotes Zappos' Change.org petition to get Leap Day declared a federal holiday, calling on the President and Congress to step in. The company's Web site lists leap year days through 2040. "The president can declare a one-time federal holiday by way of executive order," per the company's site. "Creating a new federal holiday for good will require congressional approval."

Zappos hosted a Twitter chat Thursday asking participants to share photos of themselves leaping, along with what they would do with the time off. The company asked in a Twitter tweet "How would you spend an extra 24hrs?"

Zappos' call center will close from for 24 hours beginning at 9 p.m. EST on Feb 28. Kristin Richmer, a Zappos brand awareness employee, told Adweek that customers calling in during those hours will hear an inspirational message encouraging them to celebrate Leap Day.

Arby's, known for its roast beef-filled sandwiches, won't close its stores, but will go vegetarian for Leap Day. The company unveiled plans to offer its first-ever vegetarian menu, highlighted by Arby's signature sandwich lineup, minus the meats that make them sandwiches.

REI, the recreational retailer, started the trend Thanksgiving holiday weekend, when the retailer kept its 143 stores closed on Black Friday, giving employees paid time off.

The move turned into a marketing campaign that drove the general Thanksgiving shopping conversation on Twitter, with BrandWatch reporting that #OptOutside made it to No. 11 on the Top 15 trend list.

The volume of tweets reached 3,723, which included 620 retweets and 24,909,234 impressions. REI saw online traffic rise 10% Thanksgiving Day, and 26% on Black Friday, per SimilarWeb data.

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