Real Cows, Not CGI’d Versions, Are Stars Of This 3D Illusions Billboard Campaign In UK

August 29, 2023 by Dave Haynes

Cows on an Ulster dairy farm wander up to a fence and look out over London’s Picadilly Circus in what’s touted as the first live-action 3D creative on a big public ad display.

The campaign for the grocery division of UK retail giant Marks and Spencer was shot with real cows at a real farm, a marked departure from the now countless visual illusion spots produced at workstations using motion graphics software.

The M&S Food called ‘Chilled Cows, Chilled Milk’ was developed by agencies Mindshare, Kinetic, and DOOH.com.  The campaign highlights M&S Food’s  animal welfare and ethical farming efforts.

From PR:

Unlike previous 3D Out of Home campaigns, ‘Chilled Cows, Chilled Milk’ captured its 3D visuals ‘in camera’ without the need for CGI. The campaign creative was filmed on-site at a dairy farm owned by one of M&S Food’s RSPCA-Assured milk suppliers in Northern Ireland.

The innovative campaign features a striking visual of ‘Daisy’ – an endearing cow, playfully leaning out from the screen to engage with passers-by below, even going so far as to stick out her tongue, leaving an indelible impression on viewers.

The campaign is running on four large-format LED boards around the UK: The Screen@Arndale in Manchester and three London locations — Four Dials at Westfield Stratford, Canary Wharf, and Piccadilly Lights.

“3D DOOH is a much more effective way for brands to stand out, but up until now such campaigns relied on CGI,” says DOOH.com’s Andrew Newman. “On this occasion, using CGI would lack authenticity.  So, to stay true to the brief, the only way to film this first-of-its-kind 3D illusion was totally in-camera and on-location. We achieved this through a complex technique to pull focus on each layer of our horizon, shooting on all lenses between 15mm-85mm and then re-stitching each in-focus slate before the grade. We even worked with expert animal trainers at A-Z Animals to earn the star – Daisy the cow’s – trust, so that after eight days of training, on the day of the shoot she knew her walking route, where to stand, and how to stretch her head out so that she never broke the edge of frame. All of this was captured in one 20-second take.”

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