The City of Perth might want to look up the rules to "hide and seek" after the first edition of its Nike shoe giveaway lasted only a couple of minutes.
The city is giving away 100 pairs of Nike Air Max 90 over two weeks in exchange for the shoes on the feet of keen-eyed punters, who track down "undercover ushers" wearing the Maxes.
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City of Perth gives away free Nike Air Max sneakers
It didn't take long for a group of people to track down the Nike usher in Perth's cultral centre.Journalist Brendan Foster was on the scene.
The only problem is, a large fleet-footed crowd on Thursday nabbed the council's "undercover" ushers inside PICA about 30 seconds after the city tweeted out the secret location.
Maybe it had something to do with the rather obvious "clue" the council tweeted out. Somewhere, Sherlock Holmes is turning in his grave.
"The undercover usher is in Perth's center of culture, ready to take a PICA of your shoes," the council said.
GAME ON!#doitforfree #clue
— City of Perth (@CityofPerth) October 13, 2016
The undercover usher is in Perth's center of culture, ready to take a PICA of your shoes. pic.twitter.com/Uf6GkP1cA1
The crowd of 20-plus sneaker-lovers waving their arms about trying to get a free pair of sneakers looked like a bunch of starving baby Emperor Penguins, who just spied their mothers returning from sea after six months with a belly full of fish.
As one humourless undercover usher – who resembled a kid shocked at being found after hiding in front of a lamp – led the mob to a secret location to collect their shoes, one woman summed up why she wanted the Nikes.
"I need a new pair of shoes," the woman said without irony.
Another person - who I'm absolutely positive thought he had joined a walking tour of the city - said it was "his lucky day".
"I just woke up lucky," he said, pointing to a pair of moth-eaten, mouldy Converse he was happy to part with.
The old shoes people part with will be used for an art installation for The Do It For Free temporary public artwork project, commissioned by the council and created by artist David Attwood.
The project which is part of the city's TRANSART 2016 program will conclude with a public exhibition of the collected second hand shoes alongside photographic documentation of the project.
City of Perth mayor Lisa Scaffidi said TRANSART was one of the flagship projects in a new chapter of temporary public art commissioned by the City of Perth to enhance the cultural experience in the city.
"We hope Do It For Free will entice people to rediscover and interact with the people and places in the city," she said.
According to the City of Perth website, the artwork plans to "use the cultural connotations of Nike Air Max sneakers and their exchange with the public as a means of exploring alternative relationships between commodities and communities more broadly."