Virgin Mobile USA’s ‘Blinkwashing’ ad uses face and motion detectors to give viewers a unique experience
Virgin Mobile USA has used face and motion detectors to give viewers a unique YouTube experience as part of its ‘Retrain Your Brain’ campaign.
Overall, the campaign has aimed to highlight consumers’ complacency with their current carrier and challenges them to think again about Virgin Mobile's money-saving no-contract plans.
This latest ad, devised by Mother New York, has used Blinkwashing in a bid to allow viewers to experience this and the brand in a new way.
The YouTube ad reacts to the blink of the eye by scanning a person’s web-cam for motion detection, face detection and eye locations, and then compensates for movements to accurately detect blinks.
“To keep the storyline smooth, the technology individually time-codes each word across the 25 videos, creating a smart caching system that switches seamlessly between videos whenever the viewer blinks,” explained Tim Rodgers, creative partner at rehabstudio, the production company behind the ad.
Virgin hopes it will leave the viewer wondering if they are in control or if it is Virgin Mobile.
“We understand that traditional advertising is limited in how much it can tell viewers about Virgin Mobile. Why not let viewers create unique, fun experiences while learning more about our brand?” said Doug Vosik, brand team, Virgin Mobile USA.
The Blinkwashed ad is being hosted on a dedicated YouTube channel, and is accessible from any PC or Mac with a compatible webcam.
Content created with:
Mother New York
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