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Here's Why JetBlue Wanted New Yorkers to Steal Its Outdoor Posters 'Only a real New Yorker can pull this off,' the airline teased on bus-shelter ads across the city.

By Geoff Weiss

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

In a unique twist on its latest outdoor-marketing campaign, JetBlue asked passersby in New York's five boroughs to destroy 181 posters that the airline had affixed to bus shelters.

With placards reading "Take this ad literally," "Take it from us. No, really." and "Only a real New Yorker can pull this off," JetBlue wanted to see whether pedestrians would be bold enough to do something that seemed borderline illegal -- for which they would be handsomely rewarded.

Hidden beneath the posters were uber-cool prizes, including admission to the One World Observatory, Nets and Jets tickets and even free flights.

Hashtagged #NYCTAKEOFF to promote itself as New York's self-described "hometown airline," JetBlue held the contest earlier this month and captured it all on film (see below.) Now, given the success of the marketing stunt, it is repeating the experiment through October 5.

Related: The Best and Worst Airlines for Customer Experience

Geoff Weiss

Former Staff Writer

Geoff Weiss is a former staff writer at Entrepreneur.com.

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