Ryan O’Connor took to the streets this morning, presenting his breakfast show on Kfm from the BP petrol station in Somerset Road to promote The Big Issue magazine featuring the Kfm breakfast show host on the cover on the last day of its sale.
The response from the public was overwhelming, with businesses such as ZAR nightclub, Crystal Towers Hotel and Big Concerts each snapping up 100 copies. Laguna Beach Hotel topped the rest by purchasing 120 copies of the magazine resulting in the magazine nearing the sell-out mark for the first time this year.
“The Kfm team managed to sell 600 copies of the magazine during the blitz and that is phenomenal,” said Lance Mostert, The Big Issue’s distribution manager. “Ryan O’ Conner put himself out there and physically sold the magazine, which showed a great commitment. We are very happy with the sales and the positive response.”
O’Connor’s sales blitz followed two similar early morning sales blitzes carried out by The Big Issue’s editorial team and Kfm’s Ground Patrol team, revving up sales and generating a buzz of publicity around the striking cover.
By mid-day today, The Big Issue was left with just over 100 copies of the magazine and the NGO and Kfm were encouraging members of the public to make it a sell-out by supporting their nearest vendor.
“The Twitter feed has been going crazy with people wanting to know where their nearest vendor is,” said Melany Bendix, editor of The Big Issue SA. “I’m confident that by closing today the Ryan O’Connor will officially be our first sold out edition for 2011, thanks to the support of Ryan and the Kfm team.”