The man inside the box was the yoga master at Guang Yin Yoga, one of roughly 160 yoga clubs in Shanghai.

Membership at the club had been dwindling for the past four years, and so Guang Yin went to its agency, Shanghai Hot Idea Advertising, and asked for a cheap alternative media campaign that would help increase membership. The goal was to gain 300 new members.

SHIA came up with the idea of the yogi in a box for a visible demonstration of just how flexible membership at the club can make you.

First the agency measured the yogi when he was curled tightly in a ball, his legs folded beneath his torso. The box was built to those specifications and made out of wood.

For two weeks, the yogi spent a couple hours per day in the box, handing out the club’s business cards.

More than 2,000 people paid a visit to the club, and 682 of them signed up for a new membership, far surpassing Guang Yin’s hopes.