Companies trying to sell you a product will do anything to cram their ads down your throat, but it’s always nice when they show a bit of creativity and taste when trying to get your attention. Ambient ads are one such specific form of advertisement, which seeks at once to become a part of its environment and to draw your attention to it. Whether it’s a spoof product, a well-placed and designed billboard, or something else, the point is to get your attention and make you think.
It all began when the power of traditional media started declining, giving way to innovative off-the-shelf advertising ideas. Ambient ads started appearing in British media jargon around 1999 and have been actively evolving ever since.
Some of the ambient ads out there may shock you, entertain you or even make you laugh. What do you think about the ones we’ve collected here?
If you’re interested in well-designed ads, be sure to check out our previous ambient ad posts (part 1 and part 2).
NRDC.org: Air Pollution Kills 60,000 People a Year
Advertising Agency: unknown
National Geographic: 3D Crocodile Escalator
Advertising Agency: unknown
Pepto-Bismol: Laundromat
Advertising Agency: Publicis, New York, USA
Motor City Nightmares: Horror Buckets
Advertising Agency: Y&R, New York, USA
Sparring Partner Gym: Hanging
Advertising Agency: Leo Burnett, Italy
IBM: Smart Ideas for Smarter Cities
Advertising Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, France
Doom Fogger: Roachville
Advertising Agency: TBWAHuntLascaris Johannesburg, South Africa
Carnival Cruiselines: Waterslide Escape
“Our water park goes to the Bahamas.” (Advertising Agency: Arnold Worldwide, USA)
Bigelow Organic Tea
Created by Joseph Delhommer
Visa: Go Back to Pompeii
To raise awareness of Visa’s sponsorship of the Pompeii exhibit at our National Museum, we greeted all visitors to Wellington Airport with a lava flow that ran around the baggage carousel.
Baltica Beer: Subway
Advertising Agency: Sepia, Chile
Dental Care
Advertising Agency: unknown
The Hairdressers: Need a Top Chop?
Advertising Agency: unknown
Windex Glass Cleaner
Advertising Agency: unknown
Hopping Pátio Dom Luís: Breast Cancer Bra
“Prevent breast cancer. Do the self-examination.” (Advertising Agency: Bolero, Fortaleza, Brazil)
Dressing for Pleasure: Ketchup bottle
There are two worlds of bottom snacking, the world of BDSM and thw world of ketchup bottles. The company, Dressing for Pleasure, a specialist in fetishwear and all things S&M releated, married these two worlds by putting stickers of enticing rear ends on the bottoms of ketchup bottles. Thus inviting bar patrons to explore a completely different appetite while addressing their hunger. (Advertising Agency: JWT, New York, USA)
Frontline: Get Them Off Your Dog
“Get them off your dog.” (Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Jakarta, Indonesia)
Fight Smoking
Advertising Agency: unknown
Mercedes-Benz 2012 C-350 Coupe
“Looks fast even in a park. Mercedes-Benz” (Advertising agency: BBDO Toronto)
Juice Salon: Escalator
Advertising Agency: Rediffusion DY&R, India
Korean Subway Ad
Photo by: Stephen Nessen
Quebec Automobile Insurance Society : Seatbelts
Advertising Agency: Lg2, Canada
Don’t Drink And Drive
Advertising Agency: unknown
Nivea: Good-bye Cellulite Couch
Advertising Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day, New York, USA
The Redbirds Are In Town
To promote a home stand for the Memphis Redbirds, a minor league baseball affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, we covered a car in fake bird droppings and parked it near a busy intersection with a sign that read, “The Redbirds are in town.” (Advertising Agency: Archer Malmo, Memphis, USA)
Cool and Creative Ambient Ads Part I
Cool and Creative Ambient Ads Part II
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