Toronto residents and visitors have witnessed an ickier-than-usual media execution this week in the form of a “living” billboard promoting the upcoming Warner Bros. film Contagion.
The billboard, located in a busy area of the city’s downtown, features two large petri dishes, one filled by pigmented bacteria and another comprised of bacteria, nutrient agar gel and a blue-green mould. Since the board was installed Sunday, the bacteria have grown to the point that it now spells out the letters of the film’s title.
The creative was designed by Lowe Roche, which consulted with U.K. firm Curb Media – which has expertise in such bioluminescent media executions – on the development of the installation.
Contagion, by director Steven Soderbergh, is a film about a virus that quickly spreads across the world and decimates the human population. “We thought it would be amazing to create a billboard that was living to get that same idea across as something that grows and continues to grow,” said Lowe Roche copywriter Michael Takasaki.
Warner had been a client of Montreal agency Amuse, but when it became part of Deutsche Inc. this summer (a move that also saw Amuse president Monica Ruffo takeover leadership at Lowe Roche), Warner came along as well.
The billboard will remain in place until Sept. 2.
