London couple stays at NY hotel for free, with a catch

Duncan Malcolm and Katherine Lewis of London are taking part in a unique advertising scheme in New York right now.

The couple, on vacation in the US, agreed to spend five days in a replica of a room at Manhattan’s Roger Smith Hotel that is on the ground floor of a building nearby. The hotel is putting them up for free, with a catch: The two must keep the shades on the room’s large bay windows open for three hours every day so that people can watch them.

I guess the thinking is that seeing this fine couple relaxing in a plush room will drive you and I to call up the Roger Smith Hotel and book our own stay.

The couple open their lives to the world from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Their stay ends tomorrow.

This is an ad campaign run by a company called Real Live Billboards.