The press release:
=====================
10,000 Pink Flamingos Flock to Downtown Chicago

- Airline Plants Endearing Lawn Ornaments to Celebrate Florida Route
Expansion, but needs one back -

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AirTran Airways, a
subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AAI), today released a possibly
record-breaking flock of pink flamingos to brighten Chicago's slushy
streets in celebration of the airline's expanded routes between Midway
International Airport (MDW) and various Florida destinations. To make this
colorful menagerie even more interesting, AirTran Airways will let loose
Sunny, the airline's "prized" teal flamingo. The lucky Chicagoan who finds
Sunny will win nine free flights from Chicago to Florida -- one for the
winner and eight family members or friends.

During the evening of Tuesday, February 27, 2007, AirTran Airways
blanketed the city with 10,000 plastic yard flamingos -- along with the
teal misfit -- to remind Chicago residents of the airline's growing number
of nonstop flights to Miami, Sarasota/Bradenton, Orlando, Ft. Myers and
West Palm Beach, Fla. In total, the low fare carrier has 17 daily flights
that can get travelers to the Sun Shine State from MDW serving 10 Florida
destinations.

"The program is to remind Chicagoans that when winter just won't go
away, it's up to you to get away from the winter," said Tad Hutcheson,
AirTran Airways' vice president of marketing and sales. "Now vacationers
looking to trade their ski jackets for swimsuits can flock to Florida in
comfort while enjoying AirTran Airways' business class seating, free XM
Satellite Radio and the nation's youngest all-Boeing fleet."

AirTran Airways, an active community partner, didn't fly solo on this
magenta migration. As part of the Chicago celebration, AirTran Airways will
donate flights to help its latest partner-in-pink, The Avon Walk for Breast
Cancer.

Search for Sunny

Snowbirds with an A+ Rewards program membership can do some online
"bird watching" at http://www.airtran.com/flamingos for clues to the
location of Sunny, the flighty teal featherhead. The clues will be the key
to winning roundtrip tickets to Florida. Eagle-eyed Chicagoans should be on
the lookout for the wayward flamingo through March 3, when the promotion
ends.
=====================

My adventure trying to find the teal flamingo

I set out in the afternoon onto the Magnificent Mile to find this teal bird. I was confident I'd find it. I imagined myself yelling out in glee as I see it, and run immediately up to it and grab it.

I searched all of the Magnficient Mile and found nothing. Nothing.

I looked in every store window, in every garbage can, under parked cars on side streets. Anytime I saw something remotely teal, I got excited.

It was a lot of fun to run around looking everywhere. And I mean, I was looking like a maniac. I totally felt like Jack Bauer on 24 looking for a bomb. Where is it? Where is it? With a great sense of urgency.

I thought it would totally be in a store window all dressed up in clothes--camoflauge style. That way it makes the compeition last a bit longer, because people won't be inclined to steal it off the street. You'd have to go in and ask about it.

Then I thought it would be wrapped up in a blanket hidden in one of the planters on the sidewalk.

I was asking all the traffic guards if they saw anything, figuring they are out there all day. None of them even knew what it was about. Although they certainly really had fun talking with me about it. I thought they would be like, "I'm working, dude, directing this important traffic. Get outta here." But instead they were talking to me and still waving traffic onward at the same time! I'm glad I got to inform them about it, because now if they see it, they take advantage and grab it and win. How cool would that be to have a traffic cop win? Very cool.

Every time I told someone about the contest, I totally felt like I was working for AirTran to spread the hype. Cuz there was like NOBODY looking on the street. At least nobody looking like a crazy manic.

I continued northbound on the east side of Michigan Avenue, and then continued south on the west side. Looking in everything, including garbage cans.

Although I didn't think it would really be in a garbage can, because whatever people find in a gargabe can, they consider to be free ownership. Well, the birds on the medians are already free ownership, but even more so with gargabe cans. Besides I'm sure AirTran doesn't want a homeless person to win their contest. Although that would be mighty cool.

If you win will you take me to Florida with you?

Excellent! So many great pictures! You really captured the spirit and size of the flock/invasion. I went to a few news sites that have pictures and yours are lightyears better!

The advertising agency behind this was Cramer-Krasselt. The same people behind the Corona TV ads, the Abe Lincoln/Beaver "They Miss You" tv and print ads, and the Careerbuilder ads (well, no longer Careerbuider, the agency fired careerbuilder, because the client was measuring the success of the ads on the USA Today poll instead of web metrics).

Now this morning (the day after they appeared) they are gone!

The secret page on AirTran with clues about the Flamingo contest says:
Thursday, March 1
* 9:00 a.m. CST: Sunny caught up with the news by nesting just off Michigan by the river last night – but she couldn’t stay long and before she was filmed she was gone!

So I guess the contest is done. The contest rules say:
Promotion begins at 12:01 a.m. (ET) on Feb. 26, 2007, and ends at 11:59 p.m. (ET) on March 3, 2007 ("the promotion period").

And then later on in the rules:
call the phone number located on teal specially-marked AirTran Airways Flamingo to claim your prize no later than March 3, 2007

So I guess the flamingos were with us only one day. The March 3 date was the time someone had to call the phone number.

They will be posting the winner's name online:
The prizes will be awarded and the winner will be posted on airtran.com.

--------------------
Hot pink beats cold gray in Chicago
--------------------

By Gerry Doyle
Tribune staff reporter

March 1, 2007

Downtown Chicago got a one-day broadside of marketing Wednesday as thousands of plastic flamingos were placed in parks, squares and along Michigan Avenue.

The birds, the likes of which one might find on the lawn of a Ft. Lauderdale beach home, were installed Tuesday night and early Wednesday, said Giselle Caamano, spokeswoman for the public-relations agency that staged the advertising campaign for AirTran Airways. They were in place for about 14 hours in Grant Park, in front of the Thompson Center and along North Michigan Avenue, she said. The birds were removed about 8 p.m.

Although passers-by might have wondered what the birds were all about, police and other city officials had given permission for the displays well in advance, Caamano said.

Chicago Park District spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner said such advertising on public property is not unusual.

"They are paying a promotional fee," Maxey-Faulkner said. "We have close to 600 parks, so obviously we try to raise revenue in creative ways."

Ad campaign organizers took pains to avoid a panicky situation like the one that arose in Boston over Cartoon Network ads placed around the city without permission in late January.

"We worked really closely with the city to make sure that we took every precaution possible," Caamano said.

Chicago police confirmed that no problems with the flamingos had been reported.

The organization coordinated efforts with the Chicago Police Department, spokeswoman Monique Bond said. "We are aware of the campaign and do not anticipate any problems with the marketing strategy."

From a distance, the pink birds might have seemed out of place in wintry Chicago. But up close, ribbons around each flamingo's neck identified its purpose: ads for AirTran, which is trying to entice travelers to head to Florida, Caamano said.

----------

gxdoyle@tribune.com
Copyright (c) 2007, Chicago Tribune

Interesting that the flamingoes disappeared already, because their official press release says, "Eagle-eyed Chicagoans should be on
the lookout for the wayward flamingo through March 3, when the promotion
ends."

Actually Careerbuilder fired CK

I got a flier on the street (cooly titled "What the Flamingo?") from Airtrans. Explained that you get hints to the location of the teal flamingo (they named it Sunny) at www.airtran.com/flamingos I'm going out to look for it tonight - Florida is looking nice compaired to Chicago's lame weather...

I have a feeling that the teasl flamingo was already found. I'm really curious where they hid it.

You can catch more picks at the Chicago Reader Flicker group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/chicagoreader

By the way, it's AirTran Airways (not airtrans).

Wow Matt, that's interesting. The Chicago Reader Flickr group is a sort of submission process for the Chicago Reader's homepage and blog.

As far as AirTrans goes, many brand names in Chicago get a "s" at the end. "Let's go to the Jewels and get some groceries."

So I decided that I was going to see if I could find Sunny the Teal Flamingo. AirTran started posting clues on their website Tuesday. I knew by from the last clue Thursday, which was something along the line of:

Sunny has touched down in a place make from the remnants of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

I knew that Grant Park was made from the rubble of the Great Fire pushed into Lake Michigan. I knew definitely that Sunny was in Grant Park from the clue posted this morning:

Sunny has touched down in a place that is named after the 18th president of the US

(Duh, Ulysses S Grant) So this confirmed my suspicions that he was in Grant Park.

I got downtown at about 9:45 this morning, thinking that I would go to Grant Park finding lots of people looking for this damn bird only to find out that someone had already found it.

I get to Grant Park and find no one there. I start thinking that this bird is not going to be in the middle of a field, so I decide to start looking around the bushes. Sure enough, Sunny was right next to a bush. I wasn’t looking for him but for 5 minutes!

At first I get excited, but see that sunny is just spray painted teal with a magic marker saying “YOU WON,” “YOU FOUND SUNNY!,” & a telephone number on the bird. I knew from the official rules that there would be a telephone number on the bird if a “promotions official is not present.” I left a voicemail at the number & received a call back. She took my info & I got a call from some people that took some official info. I am supposed to hear back from the AirTran legal department Monday to trade off the bird & claim the prize. So I’ve won, but it’s not quite official yet!

Florida here I come!!!!!

WOW! Congratulations Ross and thanks for giving us the update here on Spud's blog!

Wow! that is amazing Ross. I am SO SO happy you found it. I thought that the finder of this bird would just let it live in anonymity forever where the bird was found, but not only do you have the story and the location, but you also posted PHOTOS OF THE TEAL BIRD on your blog! YES! http://rossg.livejournal.com/57692.html

Congratulations!

Hello-
We supplied Airtran with their wonderful flamingos. Please visit our site at www.plastic-flamingos.com to get yours today!

Plastic-Flamingos

Hi James. Wow. You provied AirTran with over 10,000 pink flamingoes. Talk about a HUGE order! Do you know what happened to them after the promotion?