Honda's Pinterest Debut: $500 to Stop Pinning

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Honda is offering the most prolific Pinterest users $500 to take a break from social media and get out and do something in real life (#IRL).

The automotive brand is making its debut on Pinterest with a promotion tied to the Leap List campaign for its CR-V model. The Leap List is akin to a short-term bucket list, and Honda's ads encourage consumers to make a list of all the things they want to do - and then drive off in a CR-V to do them.

"The Honda CR-V is all about getting out and doing all the things you want in life," Lauren Ebner, assistant manager of social media at Honda, tells ClickZ. "So we decided we would offer some of the top pinners $500 to go out and do things they've pinned about."

Honda's social media team and agency of record, RPA, researched to find the top Pinterest users, and invited five of them to take a #Pintermission: 24 hours in which they could live their dreams before returning home to pin about them. Each pinner received a personalized invitation via a Pinterest @mention.

Honda set up pages on its own board for each of the five pinners, and the team hopes to inspire others to take a #Pintermission sans the 500 bucks.

We just launched Honda on Pinterest… by asking people to take a day off Pinterest. It's called a #Pintermission.... fb.me/1P9c5Uj99

— Honda Oman (@HondaOman) April 17, 2012

Honda didn't set metrics goals for the campaign, according to Ebner. She said, "We were looking to get our toe in the water and find a nice creative way to launch our page and - hopefully - spread the word. Obviously, we hope our images will get pinned and re-pinned."

Ebner said Honda hopes to integrate Pinterest into the brand's larger social media strategy. Noting that the Honda brand page has more than 2 million fans/likes on Facebook, she added, "I think there is the possibility to drive people back and forth among platforms."

In related news, Glam Media's Bliss.com launched a six-day Pinterest promotion tied to Earth Day. Participants have to follow "BlissByGlam" on Pinterest and then email the company for an invitation to contribute to the Earth Day Inspiration Board. Then, every pin they contribute is good for one entry into a raffle for a $200 Whole Foods gift card.