Adverblog: Things to do in Halloween day

One of the things i like the most about the digital work coming from DoubleYou is how they integrate storytelling in their advertising campaigns. Eight or nine years ago they established themselves as one of the most brilliant interactive agencies in the world, only being regrettable the fact that the medium itself (in Spain) wasn't mature enough so i always had the feeling that DY was ahead of his time.

Years later, they are still doing great things but they've managed to export all their digital knowledge in a more strategic mood, trying, being a digital agency, not to limit themselves in a 17" screen. And because of that they created this clever trap done like if it was a physical banner ("it looks like this but then i roll over it and happens that") for Port Aventura (a huge theme park in the Northeast of Spain) and its Halloween campaign in 2007.

They built a wood stand and by the name of "Interactive Test for Cowboys" they simulated that it was another attraction in the park where the users could test their skills as a cowboy.

Once a user got his/her head inside the installation and while he was reading the instructions on the screen a scary image appeared in the middle of that, often frightening him to death and not being aware that a webcam was recording and broadcasting live all of this through a website designed specifically for that.

Users visiting this site were not only being able to see the people inside the stand but also to frighten them choosing the moment when the scary image would appear on the screen or voting the best terrified faces so the experience resulted in an original back and forth between the real and the digital world, as the most voted scenes were used to create the TV spot, as you can see at the end of this video explaining the whole case.

One year later and preparing the 2008 campaign for the same client DY has made a new TV spot on that concept of fear, choosing the same building where Jaume Balaguero's "Rec" was filmed and casting several people to assist and view some projections while a digital camera was recording their reactions at 100 frames per second.

So while many agencies are still wondering about if they are creative or production shops, this in an interesting case of a digital agency evolving as to do not only interactive.