[vc_row type="in_container" full_screen_row_position="middle" scene_position="center" text_color="dark" text_align="left" overlay_strength="0.3" shape_divider_position="bottom"][vc_column column_padding="no-extra-padding" column_padding_position="all" background_color_opacity="1" background_hover_color_opacity="1" column_shadow="none" column_border_radius="none" width="1/1" tablet_text_alignment="default" phone_text_alignment="default" column_border_width="none" column_border_style="solid"][vc_column_text]Apparently, the only thing more exciting than the total solar eclipse phenomenon itself in the United States might have been watching the Trumps look up at the sky through special glasses.
But even so, preparations for sky observation on Monday, August 21st in 12 states resembled preparations for a cataclysm. In cities and towns along the "Path of Totality," people paid fortunes for accommodation, store shelves were empty of goods, kilometer-long traffic jams formed because those eager for the 2-minute spectacle blocked roads several days in advance, and portable toilets were reserved six months ahead.

One thing is also certain: for marketers across various industries, from automotive through FMCG to real estate, this was THE moment.

Eclipse – that's the name of one of Mitsubishi's models.
Mitsubishi Motors had planned the presentation of the new Eclipse Cross model for this very day, although the car itself won't go on sale until early 2018. The corporation was the exclusive sponsor of the "Great American Eclipse" program on ABC News, which broadcast live coverage. The spot featuring the new Eclipse Cross and 5 promotional videos aired at the climactic moment when the sun's disk was completely obscured by the moon, but it's unclear which of these messages – the car advertisement or the atmospheric phenomenon – was better remembered.

Volvo Car USA, meanwhile, announced that all new XC60 models planned for 2018 would be equipped with a panoramic sunroof so that the sky could always be comfortably viewed from all five seats in the car. On August 21st, the day of the total solar eclipse, by reserving one of the demonstration models, you could test for yourself how the panoramic roof of the new Volvo XC60 works in practice.

If not from a car roof, then perhaps from your own observatory through your own telescope in a new Michigan Mansion property for just $5.9 million? The solar eclipse helped promote a real estate company from Michigan.

If not such a property – then an alternative could have been a ticket to "Camp Casper" for $499 – renting a luxury tent in Casper, Wyoming, with catering and a comfortable mattress from the company of the same name: Casper, which planned exactly this promotion of their mattresses for the key August weekend.

At Chiquita, the association between the shape of the moon eclipsing the sun and the fruit was so obvious that the phenomenon was called outright: "banana sun." The brand also remembered to include a warning in their advertising film against observing the sun without protective glasses.

Amtrak, the passenger train operator in the USA, prepared a special promotion and special "Eclipse Train." Tickets for the route from Chicago to southern Illinois and back were sold out much earlier, and no wonder: the train wasn't likely to face traffic jams, viewing comfort was high, and glasses were included in the ticket price.

Apparently, however, it was all about something completely different, and actually the whole mystery of the momentary darkness is very simple to explain:

https://twitter.com/ITSAMAZlNG/status/899722782887469057

sources:
Twitter, YT, CNBC[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]