The melting chocolate looks as if you could stand below and actually gulp it down in great big yummy mouthfuls. But it’s not real. It’s Continental Outdoor’s new billboard for Magnum.
Creative manager, Nuno dos Santos, says the dripping chocolate was sculpted by hand so as to “achieve a certain degree of reality”.
So far, there have been no reports of anyone driving off the road when first catching a glimpse of the giant chocolate encrusted billboard. “The thing about chocolate dripping off a billboard is that it’s perfectly safe to look at and it doesn’t add to your waistline,” Dos Santos laughs. “And it leaves you with enough endorphins to stop at the next garage to get yourself a Magnum.”
Dos Santos says the brief was to create something unusual and innovative for Magnum. “We have an absolute passion for innovation and had been playing with the idea of a billboard dripping and melting in the sun for a while. So the Magnum brief was the perfect opportunity to put our thoughts into action.”
Designer Dom Edwards came up with the concept, but it was wholeheartedly endorsed by Hardy Boyz and the Unilever brand team, made up of Desiree Uekermann from CCM, and Melissa McMahon and Renissa Moodely from their brand office.
“We had some logistical issues regarding weight, the type of material used and posting, which were solved by our operations manager, Andrew Hinks. Plus we had a good drive to get the project of the ground by our salesman, Darren McKinon. We managed to erect the creative on time and and in line with the original brief,” Dos Santos says.
Dos Santos says Continental Outdoor has “had great response from the industry asthese innovative ideas are a breath of fresh air to Out of Home advertising. We also have a YouTube promo video so hopefully it will get shared and adding some really good exposure to the brand.
TheMediaOnline asked Dos Santos what he through would be this year’s major trends in out of home advertising. “Augmented Reality and 3D Projection Mapping are the buzz in the. We make sure that our creative concepts always feature the best and the most recent innovations in the industry. However these don’t always fit the budget of our clients. Therefore we believe idea and concept sometimes outwits the latest technologies, creating a more affordable option. Outdoor advertising is an exciting industry to be in, we always on the look out for the next creative epiphany. So the major trend IS always the big idea.”
