Surely you saw these billboards on the street. “Forgive me, Laura. I was an idiot”, “Laura: can you unblock me? I need to talk with you.”, “Laura: She and I are just friends. Believe me please”.
These messages, placed in billboards in various parts of Mexico City, tell of an alleged infidelity and a repentant boyfriend. Even another ad said “Laura, please. We already paid for half the wedding.”
The ads did not go unnoticed and caused various reactions among the spectacular. Some wondered how desperate a boyfriend could be to pay for such messages and there were those who supported “Laura” not to return with whom she allegedly was unfaithful to.
Later, replies to “Javier” appeared, also in billboards: “Javier, the size of your lies does matter”, “Are you going to tell me it was Photoshop, Javier?”, and also “No, Javier. This is not fixed with a chela”.
The intrigue reached social networks: “Who are Laura and Javier?”, “What did they do to Laura?”, and “Laura, don’t forgive him”, were some of the topics of conversation among Internet users who had seen the advertisements.
The question also arose as to whether Laura and Javier actually existed, and If you are one of those who thought that everything was an advertising campaign, you are correct.
The outdoor communication firm JCDecaux and the creative agency Montalvo are the ones behind all these billboards, and their goal was not to position any product or service, but rather to demonstrate… that outdoor advertising is still effective.
“20 billboards and 5 kiosks in Mexico City achieved to tell during the month of October the story of infidelity and (own) love between Laura and Javier, capturing the interest of the public and invading the media and social networks with comments and theories related to this controversy,” JCDecaux said in a statement.
Later billboards appeared reaffirming the impact message in outdoor advertising. “So that the next one to be exposed is your brand and not an infidel,” said one advertisement.
The firm said that outdoor advertising, also known as Out of Home (OOH), “has proven to be indispensable in a media plan that seeks to bridge the gap between the digital world and the real world.”
Outdoor advertising in Mexico had a drop in 2020, due to the pandemic, in that year it obtained revenues of only 217 million dollars (mdd), according to the study Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2022-2026, by PwC.
The firm forecasts that OOH advertising will have revenues of 327 million dollars in the country in 2022 and reach 391 million dollars in 2026.
On the contrary, advertising on the Internet will continue to rise sharply. In 2020, spending on online advertising surpassed that of television for the first time in Mexico (2,085 million dollars vs. 1,528 million dollars) and in 2022 it will double to 3,913 million dollars.
And you, what did you think of the campaign, an ingenious idea, or a desperate attempt to convince brands to advertise in outdoor advertising?
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