How do you make a car on display in a shopping mall interesting to the shoppers?

Mazda New Zealand's advertising agency .99 in conjunction with Donovan Boyd found the answer by creating a "Lost in Space" looking Smile-O-Meter that "scanned" shoppers smiles and gave them a printout which described their smile as having one of 13 characteristics including adventurous, mischievous and joyful.

In addition, the Mazda3 vehicle spoke to passing shoppers, complimenting them on their purchases and clothing and inviting them to count the number of smiles screen printed on the car's windows to go in the draw to win $3,333 and a Canon camera.

The campaign was so successful with Stop Press picking up on the story - you can read it and see a photo of the Smile-O-Meter online at www.stoppress.co.nz/news/2009/12/back-to-the-future-for-print/

The Mazda3 was launched in April 2009 and has been dubbed by the media as 'The Smiling Assassin' with the vehicle's front grille resembling a smile.