Mercure has launched “The Six Friends Theory”, an unprecedented worldwide social media campaign 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 20th and February 10th 2015, was a huge success on social media. Hundreds of entrants participated in a bid to win this incredible human adventure! Mercure has now unveiled the winner of the round-the-world trip.

“The 6 Friends Theory” operation that was conceived 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 20th and February 10th Internet users took part in the competition on the https://www.facebook.com/MercureHotels page. 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 over 130,000 new fans on Mercure's page and more than 10 million people who viewed the campaign on Facebook. The 6 Friends casting call teaser also created a buzz on YouTube and Facebook with 5.4 millions views.

The casting call expired on February 10th and Mercure is proud to annouce the name of the winner who scored the most votes fom the Mercure Hotels Facebook page and the “6 Friends” jury: Ludovica Loda. Originally from Italy, she is 21 years old and keen on travel 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: https://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. 

Media contact :

Ginni Post ginni.post@accor.com 02 9280 9874