Fake it to make it: how CGI is transforming out-of-home advertising stunts
By Creative team. Top image: North Face
Meet the brands leveraging CGI to create viral OOH advertising campaigns that captivate global audiences
These were the scenes on a chilly day in London when the authorities protected Big Ben with a new layer of insulation, using a XXXXXXL North Face puffer jacket:
Some people asked if it was real. One clue was that the onlookers were all wearing North Face branded gear. The other clue was that Big Ben was wearing a puffer jacket… Welcome to Faux OOH (FOOH) - the low-cost CGI stunt strategy that keeps going viral!
The key ingredients:
The CGI skills to make the impossible seem possible.
A brilliant creative idea straddling the boundary between the ridiculous and just about plausible.
Not needed: months of preparation time, huge production costs, permission to take over a national landmark.
The campaigns that go viral are the ones that are entertaining and can’t possibly be real; yet they tantalize the audience because… maybe they are? They teeter on the cusp of believability and the fascination lies in unraveling the fact from fiction.
Essentially, it’s a magic trick. You know it’s not real, but you wish that it was. The effect holds your attention because your brain wants to figure out how it’s done.
Tube strike
Maybelline scored 12 million views in a few hours for the cost of grafting a CGI mascara wand onto some footage of a London bus and tube train having their “eyelashes” brushed.
Once again, it’s the chutzpah of the execution that makes this work - along with the viewer’s satisfaction that they get the joke.
Lip service
L’Oreal caused traffic chaos on the congested streets of Paris when they painted the town red. Except it never happened:
This FOOH stunt for Infaillible liquid lipstick garnered 3.5 million Instagram views in two days.
What was the product truth? That L’Oreal’s Matte Resistance liquid lipstick is so hard-wearing it won’t smudge or fade for 16 hours - even when you paint it on a road. (Which they didn’t do.)
Handbags at dawn
The FOOH trend first gained prominence when luxury fashion brand, Jacquemus, unleashed their Le Bambino bags upon Paris.
The activation scored over 2 million likes on Instagram and another 2 million interactions on TikTok.
Meanwhile, behind-the-scenes:
The video was filmed so that it could be tracked as a fully 3D space - enabling the CGI elements to be added later.
Virtual objects (e.g. the bags) were created, then integrated with the footage by matching elements such as the lighting, shadows, and reflections.
The details were meticulously retouched to eliminate any obvious clues that this wasn’t real, aside from the giant handbags cruising around Paris!
Barbiezilla
Perhaps the most iconic FOOH yet was the astonishing footage of a colossal Barbie coming to life in Dubai. Here she is, brilliantly scaled next to the Burj Khalifa:
The stunt channels Godzilla and childhood nightmares, and reminds us that, for a time, Barbie really did bestride the world.
Making a Messi
Adidas’ FOOH coup was a reactive response to Messi’s 2022 World Cup triumph:
The CGI ad was superimposed upon the Dubai Frame megastructure which normally looks like this:
Adidas wanted reactive content based on the World Cup Final itself. But it would only go ahead if an Adidas-sponsored country or superstar player was involved.
The unpredictability of knockout soccer meant there wasn’t enough time to organize a marquee physical activation.
Whereas an agile CGI solution enabled them to rapidly respond to the moment.
Tactical insertion
The bang-for-buck efficiency of FOOH is ideal for disruptor brands and guerrilla marketing campaigns. We ramped up the profile of SWAT-based shooter, Ready Or Not, at the Game Awards in LA with this “takeover” of the US Bank Tower:
Playing with boundaries
Are people really fooled by FOOH? Some probably are. Some are being ironic online and some just want someone else to tell them what’s going on. The range of responses is part of the narrative - snowballing into a social conversation that extends the reach of the campaign.
Blurring the lines between fact and fiction is not new: think of Orson Welles’ 1938 The War of the Worlds radio drama. It’s become legendary for apparently causing some listeners to believe America was being invaded by Martians.
In truth, there are many ways to flag the illusion isn’t real, without ruining the initial impact. These techniques can be built into the campaign to ensure brand safety.
Moreover, much depends on the audience you’re targeting. Tech-savvy Gen Z digital natives, for example, are already on-board with mixed reality and porous borders between the real and digital worlds.
Meanwhile, the advantages of FOOH are clear:
You can light the blue touchpaper of people’s imaginations - enabling them to see dolls the size of skyscrapers and national monuments rocking the latest fashions.
You get mind-blowing visuals without having to pay for a huge logistical operation.
You get an ad that is spectacular by definition, creates conversation, and drives shares.
Finally, here’s one last example from Kaipotainment, because it’s fun:
If you would like to discover more about our integrated approach and work together on a project, get in touch.
