Advertising such a controversial and deeply immersed in modern discourse series as Sex Education is a dream for any creative agency. Even at the initial briefing with the client about this CGI stunt, we realized that we could do anything, and this was the main difficulty: having complete freedom to create a simple and understandable symbol that clung from the first seconds. In a dialogue with Netflix, we remembered the wonderful campaign against AIDS, when a condom was put on the obelisk in Buenos Aires, and decided that this was a great chance to repeat the trick and to take it to a new level - not just to show the object, but to make it move. So we decided to put a condom on the obelisk - betting that people will not be able to pass by, because we will not just show a condom, we will show how it is put on, in a realistic way, copying a real, physically possible installation. To do something very controversial for a controversial series is the perfect match. The final touch was to enhance virality by adding our experimental know-how - a digital mystification. We made two videos shot from two different points, so as to imitate two different people who filmed the same event and posted it on social networks. What could be more convincing than several people "seeing" the same thing?
First, we had to imagine, design, and create a construction that is plausible, simple, and logical, so that it is a real installation, but in computer graphics. When you can do anything because it's CGI, the main task is always to remember all the details, because they are easy to miss - there is no reality that would remind you of the details by itself. We thought over the design with cables and electric motors that pulled the condom on the obelisk and even checked the necessary density and thickness of the material from which the condom of this size would be made in reality. Next, we checked the location and decided on the shooting points - one was on behalf of a pedestrian, the other from a car. In the case of filming on behalf of a pedestrian, we almost always add actors. Explaining to them how to behave in order to look natural, like random passers-by is a non-trivial task on its own. The production itself, due to the extensive initial preparation at the level of concepts and thinking through the design mechanism, was fast and well-coordinated - we modeled the entire installation, and then worked mainly on polishing the combination of CGI with real video so that it was almost indistinguishable where reality ends and graphics begin. Picking a color of a condom with the client was bliss - the most fun decision-making we ever had. Next, we prepared recommendations for posting videos on Instagram, posted both videos with a pause of several hours - one on the official Netflix account, the other in the profile of a local influencer, and waited. When a couple of days later we were asked for an interview by the BBC and we were sent a clip on YouTube with a France24 broadcast excerpt discussing whether this was a real installation or not, the conclusion was obvious - mischief managed. Reading the comments under the videos in Instagram was a separate pleasure.
- 2,1 mio views on https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cxf4K8Crsdm/
- 1,2 mio views on https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cxf8KV3rpYc/
- more than 40 000 000 impressions on Instagram, TikTok and X.
- more than 35 media impressions (arrticles, broadcasts, etc) globally
- news spot on France 24
