This Subway Ad Is Impressive And Gut-Wrenching

Whenever I see a great ad I can't help but wonder, "What would Don Draper think of this?" And I think he would be in awe of this ad from The Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation, and not just because of the technology powering the ad, which is admittedly super impressive. Don has a serious thing for taking people on emotional journeys through evocative advertising – and this Swedish subway ad does nothing if not that.

Picture this: a woman is waiting for a train on a subway platform. The train swooshes by and her hair flies up around her in the wind. It's nothing unusual – except the woman is not actually standing on the platform. She is an image on a moving billboard, one that had been rigged through science and magic so that when a train went past, the woman's hair went up. It's pretty cool. The ad was for shampoo.

The Garbergs ad agency in Stockholm, Sweden, has now recycled the same technology for a different client. The video below shows both ads, starting with the shampoo one. But there's a twist with the second, newer ad. It's kind of shocking (even if you know that it's coming from The Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation, it will still hit you, and pretty hard.)

Ugh, this video, the faces of the people watching the ad, the music, the moving billboard itself...excuse me, I think I have something in my eye.

Image: Garbergs