Telstra lights up Valentine’s Day with billboard of love
Filed under: customers, entertainment, lifestyle, Valentine's Day
I always thought I was an excellent (and highly competitive) gift giver. Many hours have been spent umming and ahhing over the perfect work briefcase (I now know the difference between black and ink black), and don’t ask about the time I couldn’t decide between the matte or shiny silver Nespresso machine.
Luckily for me, my boyfriend is an excellent gift-giver and quite competitive too. This is probably why we both pulled out all the stops over Christmas, forcing our friends to judge both presents and award one of us the “Best Gift Ever” gong.
Allegedly it was a tie (although who can beat a Nespresso machine?!), which brings me to Valentine’s Day and the fact we again both find ourselves on ‘struggle street’.
The pink, the teddy bears, the red roses, the shiny balloons… nothing spells “forced gift giving” better than V-Day
And to be honest, the last place I thought I’d find a solution to my romantic troubles would be Telstra.
BUT…
If you’re looking for a cute way to say “I love you”, from tomorrow through to V-Day on Monday, Telstra will put yours and your loved one’s name up in lights on the giant LED billboard at our Bourke St Store in Melbourne.
To get your message displayed on the screen for all to see, all you need to do is text your name, along with the name of the person you ‘heart’ to 0499 xxx xxx* for example, Ali C [space] PaulyT.
Plus, to help “spread the love” even further, everyone who participates will receive a free MMS featuring a virtual replica of what their message looked like on the big screen.
For inspiration, check out our test message from this morning… and, to my boyfriend, I am SO winning “Best Electronic Gift Ever”!
Event: Telstra’s Billboard of Love.
Date: From Friday 11th to Monday 14th February (Valentine’s Day).
Time: The screen will be displaying love messages between 8.00am and 10.00pm.
Venue: Melbourne Telstra Store – 246 Bourke Street (Cnr Swanston & Bourke).
How doe you get the heart into your message in the SMS? Or are the messages manually put up by a Telstra person?
You don’t need to worry about the heart. Just SMS your name [space] loved one’s name, e.g. for the example in the pic it was just AliC PaulyT
Ali, who is Pauly T?
My boyfriend!
So the sms we send would look like this?
JohnS heart JaneS
Hi Cameron – all you need to do is SMS JohnS JaneS – we’ll insert the heart!
That’s an awesome idea. Paulie’s been tweeting about him being famous and all now
How much does the SMS cost?
Hi Felicity – it’s a standard SMS cost as per your plan. The replies are free (both SMS & MMS
I’m sorry Telstra, but the file you send on time delay is just a superimposed image of a generic image with text placed over the top.. This is a joke.
I’ll be posting this to the guys at Mumbrella.
Hi Christian – you’re totally right, and, as I highlighted in the blog, it’s a virtual replica of what the message looked like on the big screen.
We wanted to share the love with people interstate, so thought sending back a pic of what it would’ve looked like, could be fun. A friend of mine just sent in a message outside the store and she said it was up within a couple of minutes – so I promise it’s real! Ha ha to prove it, we could film your name in lights
Is this real or computer generated!?
Hi Cityboy – as mentioned in my blog, it’s a virtual replica.
When we were coming up with this concept, we did discuss having a photographer stationed across the road (from early morning to late at night), to take pics of every screen that appeared and somehow translate this into an MMS back to the participant.
Unfortunately, given the sheer number of messages we anticipated (and possible human error – could you imagine going through thousands of photos and cross-checking with mobi numbers and lovers names), we thought an almost identical, computer generated message was our best bet.
Hope we haven’t disappointed you! But just to reiterate, all the messages are going up on the big screen, and are up there for 15 secs each. Ali
How long does your message appear on screen for?
15 seconds each!
Totally fake, same photo for 2 people at 2 different times off 2 different numbers, same people walking in the exact same spot at 2 different times? sorry guys….. i like photoshop as well. but imagine how many people are gunna go there as something special for their partner and see its not actually doing what you’ve said….
Hi Dan – you’ve probably seen my other posts, but yes, as mentioned in my original blog, this MMS image is a replica of what has appeared on the big screen.
To reassure you though, every SMS is definitely going up in lights, so if you’re based in Melbs and want to share this with your partner, I reckon your best bet is to head on down and check it out live!!
It’ll be near impossible for the MMS photos to be live, would it not? So it makes sense for a mock image to be sharable almost instantly, but the real one is displayed (albeit delayed due to the backlog of submissions) for a short amount of time on the real billboard.
Correct me if I’m wrong though of course.
Hi Derek – spot on ! We thought the ability to share it almost instantly was key. Happy V-Day… hope you’ve sent in your SMS too
Nice work Telstra. Clean, simple, fun
I can’t believe the whingers complaining about this…. if you don’t like it….. don’t use it.
Hi Daniel – thanks for your positive feedback, much appreciated! Happy V-Day
I just sent it to my GF, she was gobsmacked. Thanks Telstra.
Yay – that’s great news! I just did one for my dad to send on to my mum.. she can’t believe it either!
I do wish people would see the fun in it, maybe read the blog properly before jumping into the negative. Lighten up peeps.. Ali I love it and think it is GREAT. JOb well done and thank-you.
Thanks for the feedback Larry! We think it’s great too (obviously slightly biased!) Hope you have a fab V-Day.
how can i find out what time of day my name coming up, so i can see it live?
you should set up a live feed of this so people can see for them self with the possibility of seeing their own names up in lights
This would be handy to see if my idea worked
Great idea! Will definitely try and make this happen for next time.
How sad really, do we need to be the best at buying to show love for someone. For a person to know another loves them does not rely on the gift rating or how big the display is.. Or am I living in the past??
I definitely think you’ve got a good point.. V-Day has always made me cringe over the years, but seeing how well people have responded to this activity, has made me re-think this.. I guess it just depends on the type of person you are and the type of relationship you’re in.
I sent my name and my husbands name through and I got a MMS back telling me what it will look like – it also said I am able to download it from here. Can someone please tell me where and how do I download it?
Thanks! I hope you all have a fabulous day filled with loads of love
Hi Sam – you just need to go onto telstra.com/rewards. It will ask you for your mobile number, which you plug in and then get your pic. Let me know if you have any issues.
can i still sms for v’day or its late? and how often my name coming up today?
Hi Parisa. Your name comes up only once per message and you can send messages up until 10 pm today.
I’ve just sent mine…gay love up in lights. What a great thing to do for V Day. Thanks Telstra!
FUN! Thanks for participating Scott
I think I may have reached my cap I have smsed so many times. I have done it to so many people I love. This includes family, friends, even one of my dearest friends 3 and 1 year old daughters so they can see it in years to come. They don’t have to be a valentine to say you love them… Oh I did get one from my cat.. BLESS HER.
Ha ha I’ve done the same.. Dad hearts vacuming, Matt C hearts Toby (as in my bro loves his dog).. Too funny!
AWESOME!!!! my friend sent like 20 sms’s for her own and her friends’ partners. its so uplifting. I sent my friend a mms replica and the were totally gobsmacked! Another thumbs up for Telstra
i Almost died when my man sent the photo to me tottaly Amaizng love it
Aww cute! That’s a good boyfriend!
tryed to do this yesterday but was given a different phone number linked from the msn home page. no response i waited at bourke st that corner in melbourne for 20 mins , today i thought i might still be able to get an mms of what happend to show my girlfriend it was done. i saw this link from a different page (gizmodo) i thought i might be able to still get a mok version done but now i get the message its closed. what a sham
Hi Daniel – sorry to hear this didn’t work for you… do you want to shoot me the names you wanted up in lights, and I’ll see if I can get the MMS mocked up for you?
yeah that would be sweet if you could, better late than never
Daniel Loves Bec
When sending a message, I get a reply….
Your entry has been received in the 4g cash competition!!!!
I had the same problem as Daniel, I never received the mms, could you please mock one up for myself also
Sam Carly
Is it too late to do this?
I didn’t receive a preview mms. Instead i received a text saying that my ’4G cash entry has been received’. Idk.
i love this idea, Valentines is to show ur love that how much you think of them and care….. after years of marriage, this is a great and awesome surprise from my hubby. I am lovong it.
Everything is not about gift(money).
I love it, keep up good work Telstra
Is that for free? but I get the message: your entry has been received in the 4g for Cash competition. the winner to be notified by Mar 2nd.
OMG….IS that 2011? so could u help me cancel that fee please
My message has still not come up. Do you know when it will? Iv Tryed twice now.
how long does it take to send the photo back to my phone? i’ve sent one to 0437464646 and also to 0499695683. Dont know why there are two numbers for this, but i’ve waited more than 20mins and still hvnt got it?!
Guys – this is the 2011 Billboard of Love and therefore a different number.
Please see the latest post for 2012 with the latest number and try again.
http://exchange.telstra.com.au/2012/02/10/telstras-billboard-of-love-valentines-day-2012/
Hi, i sent my name with a space and my husband’s name to the mobile listed on your blog – how long does it take for me to receive my replica image through sms? i received an instant sms telling me your entry has been received in the 4G cash comp. the winner will be notified 2 march… is this correct?
I’m very sorry Vanessa, but you were reading last years blog post!
Not sure how you got here?
There was a new blog and new phone number this year, sorry for the confusion.
Really glad people wasted this on sending to their friends/family mine can not go up for my fiancée till morrow!! Happy day after because people are selfish and can’t just send one message!
it says to send it to 0499 xxx xxx*
do i put my phone number there? like if my phone number was 1234567
would i send it to 04991234567?
I’m very sorry Allison, but you were reading last years blog post!
Not sure how you got here?
There was a new blog and new phone number this year, I mentioned that in the comment above – sorry for the confusion.
I have submit my request and was told due to overwhelming outpouring it will appear on billboard next day. I have wait more than one day but no message advise. Can you please advise what happen. Thanks San
I sent a message yesterday but didn’t get any photo sent to me until now! I”m feeling sad
I sent in my husband and sons’ name on Valentine’s day and was sent a message that there were so many sent in that I would have to wait until today-I have not heard-I would love to see their names and their faces when I show them-thank you so much-what a gorgeous idea!
Hi Ali,
I sent a text message and was told it would be up on screen on the 15th but I’ve not received my MMS. Can you help?
Randy
So sad that I never saw my husband or son’s name-they were too!