LG and Lucasfilm take over Times Square with a cryptic message

LG is tapping into hardcore Star Wars fans’ zest for mystery and adventure.

To celebrate “Star Wars Day” on May 4 (May the fourth be with you), LG Electronics partnered with Lucasfilm on an out of home campaign that teases Star Wars Celebration, the franchise’s major fan convention on May 26 to 29 in Anaheim, CA. 

For one day only, a two-sided digital billboard in New York City’s Times Square featured a cryptic message in Aurebesh, a language from the Star Wars galaxy, that translates to “You haven’t yet seen the true power of the dark side. Join us.” 

The message directs people to LG.com/US/StarWars, where they can sign up to be informed of a new product that creates “an epic new way to experience the saga.”

The billboard execution was supported by six-second ads on LG’s social channels, also in Aurebesh, and set to the iconic Star Wars soundtrack. 

While the campaign is primarily meant to build the buzz leading up to the film franchise’s annual fan experience, it also connects LG’s brands to consumer passion points, said John Long, executive creative director of HS Ad.

“There are probably a few billion Star Wars fans, but the way to generate authentic buzz was to tease and excite the passionate micro-segment of fanatics, and you can’t do that by just slapping a brand logo on a product,” he said in a statement. “So we spoke to them in a language only they would understand.”

The campaign was developed by LG’s in-house agency, HS Ad, which was established in Seoul in 1984 and now has 33 offices around the world.