Superdrug animation

Taking inspiration from the many successful and surreal CGI advertising campaigns that have been popping up everywhere and filling up social media feeds, we created for Superdrug their very own 15 second viral video. What makes these types of CGI Advertising campaigns so unique is that they are in fact ‘faked’ in what is fast becoming known as ‘fauxadvertising’ or fake out of home (FOOH) advertising. That’s right, no Christmas trees were harmed in the making of our animation. Instead, we combined real-world footage and superimposed our own 3D animation onto it, expertly blending video footage with creative animations to be shared on the brand’s social media pages.

Christmas is a crucial time for the retail and beauty industry with everyone in search of that perfect gift. So creating a powerful product animation that stood out from the saturated crowd of Christmas marketing campaigns was our M.O. 

Unlike other animation projects this CGI advertising campaign was grounded in reality. Namely the UK capital. To create as much buzz as possible the real life location in which our animation was to interact with needed to be instantly recognisable. So what better venue than London’s world famous Covent Garden with humongous animated versions of the cleansing balm cleverly superimposed on the iconic Covent Garden Christmas tree. 

The famous and highly instagrammable Christmas tree, weighing up to three tonnes, is switched on in November and adorned with over 30,000 lights. A must see for both tourists and Londoners alike, it was the ideal landmark for our FOOH or ‘fauxadvertising’ campaign. We used highly skilled 3D animation to realistically interact with the tree and brilliantly showcase the product in the 15 second social media clip.

With campaigns like these simplicity is key. First of all, we decided on having the product front and center to make the biggest impact with the Christmas tree the defining spectacle. 

The video begins with the sound of a light switch as the Covent Garden Christmas tree is spectacularly brought to life. Oversized animated replicas of the cleansing balm then begin to appear within the trees as if they are the Christmas lights being switched on.The tree is then completely covered by the cleansing balms with Superdrug’s famous pink star logo appearing at the very top. 

We also transformed the base of the tree to a larger than life version on the Melting Cleansing Balm with an added red bow, hinting at what a perfect christmas stocking filler it was sure to be. This animation process required strict attention to detail to ensure that it looked identical to the actual product. After all, what good is a marketing campaign if the audience can’t identify what you are advertising? 

Part social media animation, part digital out of home advertising, part augmented reality, what makes these types of FOOH ads so impactful and (cost effective too) is their highly viral nature. The juxtaposition of well known locations, that hold emotional significance for the audience, with the surrealism and often comical animation elements that these campaigns do so well is what makes them insanely popular. When brands post these types of ‘faux advertising’ campaigns to their social media they are guaranteed to be engaged with and shared.

These types of campaigns are consistently picked up by the press. Both the seasonality of our campaign and with it being in such a prominent central London location meant a very high chance of securing national press coverage  – because what brand doesn’t love a bit of free PR? Plus the London location helped Superdrug reach part of the global audience of 30 million visitors that the capital city attracts every year. 

This Superdrug campaign demonstrates the huge impact and reach out-of-home advertising can have for a brand. As a 3D animation agency we were excited to use our intricate technical skills and creative flair to create a CGI Advertising campaign that delivered some impressive results.