So what happens when a supplier won’t sell you quantities less than 500 units? You dress one of your employees as a Smurf and send him around the world — of course.

A worker at a costume shop in England traveled more than 12,000 miles over three weeks, drumming up business to help his employer move more units.

His trip was successful. The publicity he generated drove sales to levels that allowed his employer to buy in 500-unit-plus quantities.

The Smurf-blue globetrotter made the most of his trek, hitting major tourist attractions and posing for snapshots in front major monuments. He only took off his costume to bed down at night.

The whirlwind trip cost the owner of Jokers’ Masquerade costume shop owner around $6,000. But he made back all of that and more, as notoriety drove sales through the roof.

You could say it was another case of necessity giving rise to invention: The promotion was in response to news from his supplier, in China, that it wouldn’t sell and ship in quantities less than 500.

The shop didn’t want to miss out out on the Halloween season, which would’ve cost more in the long run.

Tags: quantities, sales, supplier