The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA) is putting a fresh coat of paint on its brand image in a new campaign created by Cossette.
A series of ads for the Toronto museum show people engaging in everyday tasks such as walking a dog or pushing a grocery cart, all while covered from head to toe in hot pink paint. The accompanying tagline urges viewers to “Get Contemporary.”
Created by award-winning photographer Mark Zibert, the ads are appearing on 150 transit shelters throughout the Greater Toronto Area for the next three weeks. Ads are also scheduled to run in future issues of magazines including Canadian Art, Border Crossings and Toronto Life.
A video will also appear on the MOCCA website and at the Toronto International Art Fair.
Fayiaz Chunara, head of communications and marketing for MOCCA in Toronto, said the paint is intended to represent the experience of contemporary art. “[People’s] experience with contemporary art is like the paint – it sticks with you and you’re immersed in it,” he said. “We’re showing that when you experience contemporary art it will be with you all the time.”
Hot pink was selected because it is a striking and contemporary colour, said Caitlin Keeley, a copywriter at Cossette.
Chunara said the campaign is intended to attract people in the city’s suburban areas who may have never experienced MOCCA. Originally established in 1999 as the Art Gallery of North York, MOCCA moved to its current location in Toronto’s trendy Queen West district in 2005. It currently attracts approximately 40,000 visitors a year.
