U.R The Night - Smirnoff Facebook Vanity URL

It has been a few weeks since Facebook introduced the vanity URLs ability to their system. The idea is that you can register an address so that it can be easy for users to find your fan page (e.g. facebook.com/coca-cola).

However, today I saw these vanity URLs in action for the first time to promote a Smirnoff "U.R The Night" advert.

The posters I saw were all over West London and were directing people to visit "Facebook.com/URTheNight":

Smirnoff - U.R The Night Poster

The Facebook page highlights upcoming events in the Smirnoff Experience calender, including the opportunity to win tickets to an event at the O2 on the 10th July. At this event they will be filming a music video in which the audience will play a big part.

U.R The Night Facebook Page

The use of the Facebook vanity URL is a great idea for promoting a social-based event, along the lines that bands have been doing with MySpace URLs for a number of years.

It will be interesting to see whether this will become an increasing trend and whether musicians begin to adopt this system in preference to MySpace. It would also be good to see some interesting/innovative use of the format from companies outside of the entertainment/alcohol industries.