Sometimes a visit to a museum, or a gallery, can become too tedious, ho-hum, boring... and then, on your way back, you'll see something surprising, memorable on a street billboard, or as part of a weird urban marketing campaign... Suddenly you realize that the good old conventional art was upstaged by, hm... advertisements!
Every year only some advertising campaigns are rising to the level of being called art, and others simply aim to shock and make us take notice. In our popular Cool Ads series we collect just such instances of exceptional marketing: art, kitsch, shock and all.
Spectacular wide-format thrills, monsters and disasters
(first two ads: trying to find a particular building in a big city. Bottom: ad for Mitsubishi Pajero)
This series seems a bit too optimistic:
(images via)
A super-suction range and hood:
Garbage Pen Fighters: "All We Throw Away Turns Against us" -
(image via)
Another way for garbage to fight back:
Epic pile-ups: Landrover Phone, "Incredibly Tough" -
(image via)
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Household Surrealism & Unexpected Weirdness
Overweight washing machine? Sure, "think about what it consumes..." -
(image via)
Disturbingly fat fridge - is it eating your food?
Drinking straws creativity: from small to big ones -
"Say Cheeese!" ad for SONY Cybershot (left) and Sydney International Food Festival campaign (right):
(images via)
Eat a bar code, darling:
See more creative uses of bar code here.
Some great ads for the Gold's Gym:
Improved Chewing Skills! - fragment of a campaign for the Mintz gum
(images via)
"Otherwise it would be too easy to install" (ad for the portable gas bottle) -
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Automotive Goodies
This truck has to use some gel in order to get out:
(image via)
(image via)
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Urban Ads Mayhem: Viral Street Campaigns
Even walking the streets isn't safe any more (Landmine Stickers Alert!):
(images via)
Umm... no.
(the one above is for Anando Milk, more info)
The gruesome one above is the ad for the Gas Safety Service in Russia.
Right image: the Chanel store in Ginza, Tokyo -
(right image via)
Using bridges for ads:
A nasty crack in the building, fixed by the Glue:
Cool billboard coordination between advertisers:
We only hope that the Australian Childhood Foundation did not put a live kid inside this ad:
Escalator Bonus for Homer Simpson:
(image via)
Creative bus stop ad placement:
Action against Global Warming: "The Melting Man" and the little Icemen:
(images via)
Another great Global Warming campaign, using your local swimming pool:
Got a bunch of fresh snow all over the city? Use it for ads! -
(image via)
Some weird street viral campaign in Japan:
The Trees Have Eyes - made by the UK street artist FilthyLuker:
(image via)
Urban transit all fixed up:
Some great anti-DUI campaigns:
(image via)
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"Hi! I'm Bruce!" - Part of the series "Skeletons in the Closet" by Klaus Pichler
(image credit: Klaus Pichler)
You don't keep a huge snake in the kitchen? No? Why not?..
(image via)
Big BIG Burgers!
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Great "bumper-sticker" idea:
Very creative business cards:
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Note the warning above: