• Ad Age, Thursday, June 22, 2006 12:15 PM

In a marketing promotion that runs the risk of turning some people off, cosmetics retailer Sephora is offering New Yorkers coffee in a smudged cup to hype the opening of a new store in the city's financial district. The white cup is smeared with bright pink lipstick mark near the rim, and many experts view it as a relatively inexpensive way to gain attention in a market where it is particularly hard to cut through all the outdoor clutter. Critics claim the stunt is risky because some consumers might get grossed out, but so far it seems to be working out. "You realize pretty quickly that it's not a dirty cup," said Allison Slater, Sephora's vice president-retail marketing. The imprint isn't on the exact top of the rim, so it's not intended to look exactly like someone had been drinking out of it, she said. PromoMedia Concepts, which produced and distributed the cups, however, did hear some apprehension from a few coffee vendors. But there was no major backlash, said Evan Topilow, director of marketing. The 250,000-cup campaign cost Sephora around $18,000, and includes print ads in telephone kiosks and on billboards showing a woman's face in makeup and iconic visuals of New York such as the Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building.

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