Monday 25th July 2005
Saracen bikes were supplied to the producers of the Big Brother reality TV show in mid-July. Brand logos were blanked out but the Big Brother website linked to the Saracen website, leading to a surge in visitors.
Contestants in the Big Brother house were seen riding three specially converted Saracen bikes as one of their tasks.
Saracen MD Paul Stanforth said there was a sudden increase in the number of visitors to the company's website
“We usually get about 600 unique visitors day on our web site but this rocketed to 1600 within the first 24 hours of Wednesday night’s show - and it’s been rising ever since.
"As a direct result of being on the programme, we’ve had an enquiry about our bikes from another television show,” he said.
Saracen sells 60 000 bikes a year in the UK.
The Channel 4 Big Brother programme approached Saracen asking for three Saracen Hoax junior bikes.
“We took the call on a Thursday, carried out such modifications as dropped handlebars on the Friday, and delivered them to Elstree Studios on the Monday, in time to be used on both Wednesday and Thursday night’s programmes.”
Contestants raced the bikes wearing time trial aero helmets.
bikebiz
