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As reported in this blog a few days ago (here), a Swedish art student (not artist, as we previously reported and as generally reported in other blogs and even news outlets) recently claimed that he had given a delivery company a metal case with a foam-protected GPS unit and a list of detailed instructions, by global map coordinates, for exactly where to take the package.
The route consisted, as seen on the original picture (see the linked thread above for a large graphic of the GPS’s reported route), of a complex, unbroken line that would require the delivery company to, beginning in Stockholm, fly around Europe, over Africa, through Asia and the Americas, all the while following the student’s lengthy list of pointless detours, huge loop, and forays thousands of miles over open ocean, only to reverse suddenly and fly back to land. All of this was to create the contours of the portrait of the curly-haired instigator, Erik Nordenankar.
As reported at telegraph.co.uk., blogs (such as www.GPSNuvi.com) reported on the news, and many found holes in the art student’s claims. (The Telegraph specifically mentions something we reported on here — that it is highly improbable that any delivery company would fly in several huge loops over the seas north of Scandinavia to create the portrait’s hair.) How did the GPS maintain an unbroken signal from its thick metal case for so long? Why does the route so often veer far from land, to areas where the company (DHL) has no service? Since when does any delivery company accept suggested delivery routes from customers, especially ones that would prove incredibly costly and pointless?
Well, it turns out the suspicions were on the mark: Nordenankar has admitted that the whole thing was made up. Despite the evidence on his website (photographs of the package, YouTube footage of him at a DHL warehouse with the package and of him sketching out the route beforehand, etc) the GPS was never sent around the world. Some bloggers praised the evidence as convincing (even while saying it might be a hoax), but in reality is was always flimsy and proved nothing.
The other main suspicion is that this whole story is simply a viral marketing campaign for the delivery company. DHL has stated that, yes, it allowed Erik to videotape inside the warehouse for a school project, but never sent any GPS around the world and certainly didn’t follow any customer-specified route through 62 countries. The courier’s half-hearted promise to get in touch with the student and find out more about his claims sound like a co-conspirator playing its part.
Of course, what would the company stand to gain from this anyway? At first, it seemed (if the package really had been sent around the world in the advertised fashion, even as a marketing hoax) that the company would gain favor with the public as a friendly, versatile service that can deliver anywhere. More friend than corporation — excellent PR points. But as it stands now, we are left with a company that does not follow instructions, makes no special forays into remote areas, and can let itself be easily duped by a kid with a videocamera.
If this turns out to be a marketing scheme for DHL, as still seems likely, one wonders if it was really thought out that well. Maybe it’s their first. Better luck next time. In the meantime, we’ll stick with UPS who is too busy delivering packages to engage in such shenanigans.
