Billboard and Outdoor Advertising

Most people spend the coldest months of the year trying to forget the temperature, bundling up in layers of winter apparel or just staying inside with the heat turned up and a warm mug of coffee close at hand. Norwegian Air Shuttle wanted to catch people’s attention during the rare times they might actually be feeling the cold - waiting for a (heated) bus, on a walk from (heated) home to (heated) office - in order to remind them that they need not be cold at all. Warm weather, after all, is only a short flight away. The massive temperature readout was supplied by an internal electronic thermometer, while the airplane fare below reminded passersby that traveling somewhere warm was not expensive, and that it was certainly worth it to escape the freezing weather.

This billboard for Morgan Crossing, a residential-commercial condominium development, attracts attention with its beige couple and their equally dull minivan clambering towards a life outside of “Boringville.” Morgan Crossing wanted to position itself as a vibrant alternative to the monotony of suburban living, since the condos the real estate company was trying to sell were within walking distance of retail shops, restaurants, and a sense of village life. The life-size beige people make this promotion more than a simple billboard or outdoor poster - it’s impossible not to notice them - and their abandoned automobile represents freedom from the need for a full tank of gas to have a good time.

This humorous billboard reminds passersby of one of McDonalds’ strongest points - the value menu - while poking fun at high-end conspicuous consumption by jamming a yacht into one of its apple pies. The juxtaposition and oversized display get people’s attention and hopefully set their stomachs rumbling, sending them into the nearest McDonalds restaurant to find out exactly what kind of food - with or without embedded boats - is on the value menu.

Environmental nonprofit organization Greenpeace wanted to raise awareness of the problem of unsafe drinking water in China, an issue especially prevalent in rural areas of the country. To get the attention of city-dwellers, they printed up large stickers shaped like dirty puddles with fake “reflections” of children scooping up handfuls of the contaminated water. These stickers were placed throughout popular commercial and tourist destinations in Beijing in the hope that wealthier urban Chinese would take notice and empathize with their poorer rural counterparts.

Many pedestrians did stop to look at the sidewalk decals, taking photographs or writing down the web address. It is too early yet to see if the attention generated was accompanied by online fundraising success, but this is definitely a clever use of public space on Greenpeace’s part–the sidewalk is one of the few surfaces left that is still rarely used for advertising.

In a series of public promotions designed to generate conversation and attention, the New Zealand news and entertainment website Stuff placed stuntmen dressed as its reporters in some extremely compromising positions. This poor fellow apparently was pelted with 150 kg of rotten tomatoes as rush-hour commuters watched from their cars. Food-based violence might not sell news, but it does start conversations, and that’s what Stuff had in mind. People might tell their friends about the promotion, while the brand name stuck in the back of their heads, and both parties would be more familiar with Stuff next time they wanted to look up a story online.

[via OutdoorAdGuru]