Seattle Southside Welcomes Aliens Back with Abductable Invitations

The US government has confirmed the presence of Aliens among us, sparking a cultural fascination that many brands have tried capitalising on. But unlike those brands, Seattle Southside, a region just south of Seattle, actually has a genuine history with extra terrestrials. 

In 1947, six flying saucers hovered over the area, an event that’s now commemorated by the Maury Island Incident Mural. Building on this unique history, Explore Seattle Southside launched a campaign called 'Alienvitations,' which invites interstellar tourists back to the region to see all the curiously wonderful changes made since they last visited 77 years ago. And by doing so, the tourism brand hopes to inadvertently attract Alien-enthusiast Earthlings as well. 

“Seattle Southside doesn’t have world-famous attractions like other popular tourist destinations, but we do have quirky ones like the Maury Island Incident and the annual Men in Black Bash. So it only made sense to lean into them and use them to our advantage,” says Explore Seattle Southside CEO Mark Everton. 

“Per capita Washington State ranks #2 in the nation for reported UFO sightings, so we have a really good chance of reaching Aliens,” says Explore Seattle Southside vice president of marketing and communications Ashley Comar.

To launch the idea, Explore Seattle Southside and their creative agency One Twenty Three West placed messages on the one thing that Aliens love to abduct most: cows. When the cow covers are scanned by Aliens, they’ll be taken to a retro-style tourism video on Seattle Southside’s website, which continues to invite them back. The landing page is also full of recommendations for interstellar tourists to explore, and the entire page can be converted from English to Alien, making it extra easy for extra terrestrials to read. 

“Tourism companies try to target people around the world. Instead, we decided to target tourists from out of this world and in a whole other galaxy,” says Bryan Collins, founder of One Twenty Three West. 

"When we were coming up with ways to attract aliens back to the region, we drew inspiration from movies and tv shows like Men in Black and The X-Files. In a lot of mainstream media, Aliens are shown beaming cows into their flying saucers and abducting them. So, creating 'Bait Cows' seemed like a no-brainer", says Rob Sweetman, founder of One Twenty Three West. 

The campaign also includes social media stunts that aim to entice Aliens back. Like a sample of a mochi donut floating in space, a billboard with a bubble tea sample at hover-height, a crop circle in the shape of a QR code, and a social post letting Aliens know that Seattle Southside has UFO landing spots. The tourism brand created quirky souvenirs just for Aliens as well, which they can take back to space with them to remember their curiously wonderful trip back. And an 'Alien Communicator' telephone booth was installed in the region, allowing Earthlings to leave messages that will be beamed into space, re-inviting the Aliens to return. 

The campaign builds off of last year’s successful and award-winning Microadventure campaign, which was also created by creative agency One Twenty Three West.