We've just launched a new category at this year's Brand Impact Awards: Emerging Tech. This category is all about those using tech such as AI and AR in their branding schemes, and here's an example of a piece of work that fits the category exactly.
The British Skin Foundation has launched a campaign that uses AI to change its image according to UV levels detected by the billboards. The billboards start out showing healthy skin but this changes over time, to show how skin that isn't covered by sun protection would change as UV levels rise. It's quite a frightening sight.
The billboards burn according to UV data that comes in live and the campaign only appears on days where high levels of UV rays are forecast. They're being shown in London, Southampton and Manchester in the UK. Could this be a contender for our best billboards list?
The billboards have QR codes that direct users to the British Skin Foundation's website, where they can get advice on how to protect themselves from burning up like the billboard ads.
The campaign was created by Wonderhood Studios. Stacey Bird, ECD, said: "This project has been an epic effort from everyone involved. Tad and Indie’s initial idea was so simple and powerful. It’s been fascinating to bring it to life with the power of AI combined with expert human knowledge of the effects of UV on skin types."
The campaign was also created in collaboration with a dermatologist and the technical team at The Gardening Club, who used AI to turn images of healthy undamaged skin into keyframes illustrating each stage of sun damage.
"The Burnable Billboard provides the public with a powerful visual representation of the harm UV rays can inflict on the skin, even in the UK climate," said Lisa Bickerstaffe, head of communications at the British Skin Foundation.
"At the British Skin Foundation, we’re committed to shifting the often-casual mindset around sun safety, that can lead to life threatening conditions such as melanoma skin cancer. By presenting scientific information in such an innovative and creative way, we are able to educate and inform the public on the importance of protecting their skin."
The campaign is certainly clever. Of course, our skin all reacts differently to the sun and I wish they'd used more of a range of skin tones to demonstrate this. Though a billboard where skin turns beautifully tanned wouldn't exactly have got the message across in the same way.
Overall I think this is a striking billboard that would certainly get my attention if I was passing it. For more innovative billboards, see Lynx's scratch and sniff billboard.
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