Copywriter cooks up large-scale beach art

Agency: Ogilvy & Mather

Partner: Ego Pharmaceuticals, SunSense

Market: Australia

Scope: 'We're fryin' out here', a sculpture in the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition at Bondi through 9 November (see full-size picture). The sculpture itself carries no branding, and it's not accurate to call Ego the "client" in this project. The company supported the creation of the sculpture because it is "intrinsically linked to the values of SunSense" and will encourage people to remember to use an effective sunscreen. That said, Ego is an Ogilvy client, and the company will be giving out samples at the beach this coming weekend, according to an Ogilvy spokesperson.

Press release quotes: Artist (and Ogilvy senior copywriter) Andrew Hankin: “It’s a great honour to have been selected into Sculpture by the Sea but an even better feeling to have been able to create a sculpture with an important message behind it. Seeing kids climbing all over it, the thousands of pictures on Instagram and now its appearance on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald, I’m very happy people are enjoying what we’ve created.”

Ogilvy CEO, David Fox: “We loved Andrew’s idea from the moment we saw it as it communicates a strong message in a non traditional and interesting way. The strength of the idea for us is that it’s rooted in a cultural tension that exists in Australia regarding our love of the sun yet our fear of its potential long-term consequences. We have supported Andrew every step of the way because we want to drive our talent to deliver big ideas that live in interesting places versus just on a news page or a TV screen.”

Comments: The work itself is clever and will be an obligatory photo-opp for anyone who visits the beach. The publicity so far proves that the lack of explicit branding won't make the effort any less effective for the client supporting company.

CREDITS

Andrew Hankin, Dan Sayer, Jack Davies, Russell Smyth, Janice Tilley, Kate Warren-Smith