Life in the Fast Lane

More than just a simple act of pulling a rabbit out of his hat, former magician turned special-effects entrepreneur Francisco Guerra pulls a little piece of heaven from the skies with a contraption he invented to create clouds, or ‘Flogos’ as he calls them — derived from the words ‘flying’ and ‘logos,’ for a new form of guerilla marketing.

Photo Mark Humphrey / AP

With a little helium, some specially formulated plant-based soap, water and a lot of air, the environmentally friendly custom made clouds can fill the skies with foamy shapes made of tiny bubbles as large as 4 feet (120 centimeters) across in nearly any form imaginable.

The helium is one key that allows the clouds to fly off and retain their puffy texture to travel up to 30 miles (48 kilometers) at heights of up to 4 miles (6 kilometers), but the smaller forms typically level out at about 500 feet (150 meters).

The logos have a soft, puffy look of a cloud, but stay cohesive even if they bounce off a building.

“The Flogo clouds can hover at various heights, depending on the amount of helium and oxygen mixed into the formula. As a norm, they’ll fly about 300 to 500 feet high but they can sail much higher or lower if needed.”

Photo Mark Humphrey / AP

Depending on the weather and formula used, the Flogos can last from a few minutes to more than an hour.

“They will fly for miles — they are durable so they last a while. The secret is our formulation and equipment. We’re able to keep the cloud together for a long time.”

But success depends upon on the right weather conditions. Guerra said, “You want some wind because you want them to travel. If there’s no wind they just spiral upward slowly.”

“We’ve got a ghost shape and on a calm day it looks like everyone is going to heaven.”

Photo Mark Humphrey / AP

The cloud-making machine can pump out Flogos at a whopping rate of 1 every 15 seconds in 2-foot (60 centimeters), 3-foot (90 centimeters) and 4-foot shapes, but a 6-foot generator is in the works, along with being able to add color.

“Eventually a Flogo just evaporates in the air. It does not pollute the skies.” said Guerra, whose U.S. company SnowMakers creates weather effects for Hollywood movies and special events with machines that churn out fake snow and foam. The company also has a product that emits puffs of smoke rings for an eerie effect.

Photo Mark Humphrey / AP

“They’re safer than mass balloon launches where the fragments pollute the environment and are dangerous to wildlife.”

“Flogos pop just like bubbles and disappear when they hit a tree or building, sometimes leaving a powdery residue that blows away.”

A professor who specializes in environmental issues said Flogos didn’t sound like a pollution hazard if they’re really just specially formulated soap and water.

“It sounds like it’s harmless, but there’s a lot of stuff that we thought was harmless that turned out not to be.” said Jerry Emison, a professor of political science and public administration at Mississippi State University.

Photo Mark Humphrey / AP

The Walt Disney Co. will be using Guerra and fellow company inventor Brian Glover’s contraption to make a small army of Mickey Mice, sending clouds shaped like Mickey’s heads into the air at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida next month.

“Flogos are a revolutionary way to market products, services and events. It’s a shock factor when you look up and there’s a logo over your head.” said Guerra. “You could put a half-dozen machines together and fill the sky with almost any shape a company orders.”

Photo Mark Humphrey / AP

The machines produce the white foam in a large tub that forces it upward through a stencil. Once the foam is several inches thick, a metal cutter slices it and a bubbly cloud floats into the sky.

He developed Flogos at his small factory in northern Alabama where he enjoys the solitude of few people around to ask questions about the foam shapes that float above the building on test days.

Max Scott slices star-shaped Flogos at SnowMaster Inc.’s headquarters in
Lexington, Ala. Photo Mark Humphrey / AP

At about $3,500 for a daily rental, some feel it’s a very reasonable form of marketing over other sky advertising ploys.

Matt Leible of New York-based Generation Outdoor, an ad agency specializing in outdoor advertising, said companies can spend $5,000 a day for a big banner with graphics towed by an airplane, and skywriting can cost $4,500.

To rent a blimp like Goodyear’s costs $250,000 a month, and companies usually want a 6 month minimum, Leible said.

One expert said the idea sounds catchy, but wonders how Flogos will fare against a backdrop of controlled airspace, environmental sensitivity and concerns over legal liability in case something goes wrong, like a pilot being distracted by a swarm of floating tomahawks above an Atlanta Braves game.

But the proto-clouds have already been cleared by the authorities of being a hazard to airplanes.

Photo Mark Humphrey / AP

“I think people will look at them. The question is what happens after people look at them.” said Leonard M. Lodish, a marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

“The real question is what is the cost benefit versus other alternatives like banners or blimps.” he said. “How many people will see it and what is the impact for those who see it?”

The air is free game, so companies could promote a product or simply display their logo anywhere desired. “It’s a new form of advertising that’s never been used before.” Said Guerra. “The sky literally is the limit.”

Photo Mark Humphrey / AP

Only a few people have seen Flogos so far, including a crowd at the local ballpark one day when the company was testing. There was no way to ignore the test clouds as they floated lazily overhead, said Augie Hendershot, police chief in Lexington.

“Everybody thought it was neat.” he said.

Workers at Snow Masters say motorists in the area literally have stopped and gotten out of their vehicles to take a closer look when they see a floating Flogo that the company is testing from its plant on Lauderdale 71.

Photo Flogos

Major brands such as Apple and Mercedes have already floated their logos in the sky
Major League Baseball franchises and various Fortune 500 companies are also interested, and presidential campaign representatives also have contacted him.

Kyle Randolph, of Snow Masters in Lexington, Photo Daniel Giles / Times Daily

“We’re just now launching.” he said. “We’ll start doing rentals in the next 30 days.”

“I’m in the office from 7am because inquiries are coming from every square inch of the planet. We are making them as fast as we can but it’s not enough.”

“Every major advertising company in the world has come to discuss their roster. In Korea, artists have told us they want to use Flogos to make a kind of sculpture. The response has been incredible.”

Visit the Flogos website to learn more.

Flogos Aerial Assault

Flogo Mickey

Sources: Metro, Knoxville Biz, Courier Journal, Times Daily, and Daily Mail

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