Hand-painted Rémy Martin ads featuring Usher illuminate NYC & Chicago streets
The cognac maker’s out-of-home campaign ‘Life is a Melody’ harnesses projection mural mapping technology to transform the sides of buildings into canvases.
The work aims to draw a connection between cognac and music / Credit: Remy Martin
As night falls over New York and Chicago, passersby will encounter dynamic portraits depicting Usher and Rémy Martin bottles on the faces of buildings as part of the cognac brand’s new ‘Life is a Melody’ campaign.
The out-of-home concept animates and projects hand-painted artwork on to an urban backdrop through a technique known as projection mural mapping. In the composition, the R&B star is surrounded by silhouettes of dancers, music notes and Rémy Martin. It also teases fans with a preview of Usher’s unreleased song, Comin’ Home, from his new album.
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With this campaign, Rémy Martin becomes the first spirit brand to launch a mural projection mapping campaign with Colossal, an award-winning, hand-painted outdoor advertising agency known for celebrity portraiture.
“Mural mapping allows us to bring the ‘Life is a Melody’ campaign visuals from a static hand-painted piece of art to a lively animation that tells a visual narrative of the campaign,” Tina Reejsinghani, vice-president of luxury brands at Rémy Cointreau Americas, told The Drum.
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“When the sun goes down, Usher’s spotlights are switched on, shining bright on to him and his dancers, while waves of glitter bring energy and movement to this display, mimicking the smoothness of Rémy Martin cognac.”
Usher and Rémy Martin have collaborated on several campaigns in the past three years, each drawing a connection between music and cognac. In April of 2021, the duo came together to create ‘Team Up For Excellence – The Film,’ which explored the cultural connection between cognac and American music since 1917 in France. In 2022, the two teamed up once to launch a limited-edition NFT-enabled ‘Usher x 1738 AI Powered’ bottle. The NFT sold out in under two seconds. Earlier this year, the artist took center stage in the brand’s first Super Bowl spot.
“With a profound appreciation for the exquisite taste of Rémy Martin, Usher’s affinity for not only the taste of Rémy Martin, but also the brand’s savoir-faire [French for ‘to know how to do’] is evident in the enduring partnership,” added Reejsinghani.
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The murals will live in NYC, at the corner of Lafayette and Bleecker Street, between July 24 and August 20, before moving to Chicago, at N Jefferson Street and N Washington Blvd from September 18 to October 22.
The campaign was ideated and developed with New York creative boutique Fred & Farid.
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