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Zoolander 2 marketing drive brings hand-painted art mural to Melbourne landscape

Zoolander street artLocal marketing for Zoolander 2 has seen a hand-painted mural of the Magnum-mugged model, created by Apparition Media, dominate the intersection of Swanston and LaTrobe streets in Melbourne.

The film, which opened last week, was been backed with a significant marketing budget, but distributors Paramount wanted to do more with outdoor than just street furniture and public transport, bringing street art specialists Apparition Media in to create the mural.

More than 500 hours were spent creating the image of Derek Zoolander and the quote: “You all look like ants from up here”,  and the artwork will continue to grow over the course of four weeks, with new quotes from the film added each week and the mural’s colours changed.

Week two of the campaign and the mural has been updated

Week two of the campaign and the mural has been updated

“By hand-painting works of art on to the walls of pre-existing buildings the team creates advertising that becomes part of the streetscape, giving the consumer the opportunity to be taken on a journey from inception to completion,” said Tristan Minter, co-founder of Apparition Media.

“Allowing the public to follow the progress of a piece of work means intrigue builds and, at times, passers-by do not know they are (seeing advertisements).

In an industry now dominated by printed skins, Minter said the campaign brings traditional sign-writer and art skills back to the outdoor industry.

Minter said the company secured approval from Melbourne Council to use the wall because “it was more art than advertising”.  This medium goes beyond traditional forms of out-of-home advertising. It’s 100% back to old school, in a sense.”

Clients of the agency have included Dulux, Lion, Bacardi, Nike, and Bank of Melbourne.

“This is our first large-scale face and the response has been overwhelmingly positive,” he said.

The company has also brought the art of creating the murals into the digital age by filming time-lapse videos of the creation of the work which can then be used in social media.

The mural continues the trend of the Zoolander 2 international campaign, which features humorous marketing spots such as Derek Zoolander taking over Barbie’s Instagram account, and the Valentino fashion show appearance by characters Derek and Hansel.

Simon Canning

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