Mercure unveils the results of the “The Six Friends Theory” international casting

Mercure has launched “The Six Friends Theory”, an unprecedented worldwide digital operation to check the well-known six-degrees-of-separation theory which claims that we are all only six people away from everyone else on the planet. The international casting call, which took place between January 20^th and February 10^th 2015, was a huge success on the social networks. Hundreds of Internet users participated in a bid to win this incredible human adventure! Mercure now unveils the winner of the round-the-world trip.

“The 6 Friends Theory” operation that was developed by the agency W aims at selecting a candidate, somewhere around the world, and taking him or her to meet an Aboriginal from the Bundjalung tribe in Australia, in order to prove that they are only 6 degrees of separation away from each other! Between January 20^th and February 10^th Internet users took part in the competition on the Mercure Facebook page www.facebook.com/MercureHotels The application procedure was simple. Candidates simply had to post a video up to 1 minute long on Facebook, capturing their personality, what they are passionate about, what drives them, their plans, their talents and so forth. Motivated by the incredible adventure offered by Mercure, nearly 400 candidates from all over the world applied, supported by close to 50 000 votes.

The “6 Friends” community took the social networks by storm with close to 130,000 new fans on Mercure’s page and more than 10 millions Internet users who viewed the campaign on Facebook. The film teaser also created a buzz on YouTube and Facebook with 5.4 millions views.

The casting call expired on February 10^th and Mercure is proud to annouce the name of the winner who gained the votes fom the internet users and the jury: Ludovica Loda. Originated from Italy, she is 21 years old and keen on travels and adventure. She was the best candidate, matching with all the selection criteria: creativity,motivation, emotion, authentiticity, enthousiasm, curiosity and sincerity.

Ludovica Loda has won a round-the-world trip via the Mercure hotel network, featuring encounters, discoveries, journeys and brand new experiences. The trip will follow an itinerary connecting the home locations of the five friends who link Ludovica to the Aboriginal. As a result, ever since the winner was selected, Mercure has been looking for the connections between the two in order to establish the itinerary via its hotel network for this incredible human adventure. The winner will finish the journey in Australia, where she will meet an Aboriginal from the Bundjalung tribe and Mercure will thus prove to the entire world how small the world is!

Link to Mercure’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/MercureHotels

Link of the winner video:www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQTlDa4X7rY

About Mercure

Mercure is the midscale non-standardized brand of Accor, the world’s leading hotel operator with 3,700 hotels, 470,000 rooms and 170,000 employees in 92 countries. Mercure hotels share common quality standards and are driven by passionate hoteliers. Whether they are located in major city centers, by the seaside or in mountain resorts, each establishment offers an authentic experience for both business and leisure travelers. The Mercure network spans 711 hotels in 52 countries around the globe, represents a real alternative to standardized or independent hotels, and combines the power of an international network with professional and digital expertise. For more information, visit http://www.mercure.com.