Dive Brief: 

• A crop circle discovered last week in a barley field in Chualar, Calif., was revealed to be a marketing stunt during Nvidia's Sunday press conference at the International CES. 
• The stunt was meant to grab attention for the computer graphics firm's new mobile processor, the Tegra K1. 
• The idea sprung from Nvidia CEO Jen Hsun Huang's comment to engineers that the chip was "practically built by aliens" and that the group needed to launch a global marketing campaign with zero budget. 

Dive Insight:

A stunt like this would certainly pull a lot of media attention at anytime throughout the year, but it was a clever idea to announce it during CES —​ quite possibly the largest consumer technology tradeshow. There are so many brands competing for attention during the show that it can be hard to be heard, but grabbing headlines with a mysterious crop circle certainly guarantees an audience.