Corona beer goes viral with an epic CGI ad featuring a giant hammock

Mexican beer brand Corona surprised people in Lima, Peru by installing a gigantic hammock between two skyscrapers in the city center. Except it wasn't real, the brand used a CGI ad to go viral on social media and it's a cool example of the so-called "faux" advertising.

https://youtu.be/52hKjcrPr9A

What happened: Lima woke up to the news of a bizarre appearance several days ago. The giant hammock descended to the buildings of the Peruvian capital. Confused internet users started sharing the video of the identified chilling objects on socials. It turned out to be a CGI ad campaign by the famous Mexican beer brand Corona.

The hammock is 3D-generated and the video itself is fabricated to be viral. It features people taking photos and videos of the object but the whole thing is staged to be an ideal material to share in the TikTok era of marketing.

The campaign was created by Publicis Peru.

“The challenge was to find the perfect location and ensure that the CGI integration looked absolutely realistic. We did extensive technical and artistic testing. 3D tracking was key, allowing us to integrate the virtual elements with the camera movement and achieve the desired hyperrealism,” said Beto Noriega, chief creative officer at Publicis Peru.

What is a CGI ad: that's a new hot trend in marketing and a soft version of the gorilla campaign. Also known as "faux" or fake advertising, this approach aims to capitalize on the virality of social media by launching shocking, seemingly "real-life" short videos or photos that spark an immediate strong reaction.

The element of doubt is another forte of CGI ads. Users start a debate about whether the campaign is real drawing thousands of views, reactions, and shares.

We've seen some awesome faux advertising campaigns in 2023 such as the now-iconic Maybelline London subway CGI ad:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NvYJWeg-cic

Or the racing Jacquemus bags on the streets of Paris:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnDNAv9HBSM

And this controversial Netflix stunt to promote the "Griselda" TV show starring Sofia Vergara:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a6RM1ft2dQ

We're sure that CGI ads will become a fixture in marketing. Let's see what 2024 brings.