When I was a kid, I hated going to bed. I was certain that as soon as I fell asleep, the adults were going to do something incredibly fun, and I was going to miss it. On occasion though, there were nights when my mom had just washed the sheets and I was so exhausted from riding my bike (big red, as I called it, complete with banana seat and huge handlebars) that I gratefully crawled into bed.

Apparently, it was really all about the sheets.

Stay with me here.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, eighty-five percent of people are more “excited” to get into a bed that has a fresh scent. Now, I’m not really sure what qualifies as “fresh” but I suspect it has something to do with that“just got out of the laundry” feeling. Downy, the masters of all things detergent, decided to take this data and spin it into a whole campaign.

Welcome to the Ultra Downy April Fresh “Clean Sheet Week” Challenge (say that 10 times fast!). This state-of-the-art liquid fabric softener has “dual note scent pearls” that allow the scent of freshness to extend for a week. Typically I would expect them to challenge Americans to sleep in Downy washed sheets for as long as they could while maintaining the “fresh” scent – but no, they didn’t go that route. Instead, they partnered with Macy’s (who happens to sell sheets) and comedian Mike Birbiglia; challenging him to sleep in Downy washed Macy’s sheets for seven nights from January 26 through February 1…in a window display at the Macy’s Herald Square flagship store in New York.

And he said yes.

Of course, this is a great promotion for virtually everyone involved. Mike will be tweeting and Facebooking his way through the seven days/nights, Downy will be in full-on promo mode with Macy’s events, ad displays and more social media updates than you could shake a stick at.  I love the multi-faceted nature of this campaign, and how a simple report from the National Sleep Foundation can spark so much creativity.

I feel for Birbiglia though, and hope he’s getting some good compensation for all of this hoopla. He allegedly suffers from an unnamed sleep disorder, according to the Downy and Macy’s press release. Seven nights with no sleep would be a drag. Do you think it ever gets quiet outside the Macy’s Herald Square store?

Besides all of that – do people really care that much about fresh sheets? Or is this a well-thought out multi-level marketing campaign? Leave your thoughts here!

-Heather Strang

P.S. Watch all the action LIVE.