Creative Uses of Stickers in Advertising

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May 21, 2010

The use of stickers in advertising is not only an innovative way to attract attention, it is also an extremely cost-effective way to create a lasting impression.

Many companies, whose only form of advertising is stickers, have seen an increase in business by as much as 550%.

The great thing about these stickers is that they can be easily customized and this is probably one of the main reasons why they have become so popular.

In this post, we've collected some of the most striking and creative examples of stickers in advertising.

What do you think of these type of adverts? Please feel free to share other examples that you may know of in the comments' section below.

Apple Store Window

The broken-glass sticker was placed on the window of an Apple Store to promote the iPod Hi-Fi.


Cillit BANG "Clean Coin"

The househould cleaning product Cillit BANG placed transparent stickers on 5 Cent coins they gave out as change to consumers, that were half way cleaned by Cillit BANG and half way dirty.


BARCORAIA: 3 MILLION DOLLAR CATCH

Creative advertising for the TV show Million Dollar Catch by placing stickers at either end of the lanes.


TV2 "Batman Stickers"

In honor of the launch of Batman Begins on TV2, stickers were placed on footpath lights, so that the bat signal was created when the lights were on.


Brastemp "Stainless"

Brastemp Stainless placed outlines of the shape of their products, on shopping center elevators.


Bubble Hair Salon and Spa

Bubble Hair Salon and Spa placed a temporary sticker on the road to recreate a comb-shaped zebra-crossing adjacent to the salon.


Road Safety Bus Advertisement

This sticker was placed on the front of a bus to encourage pedestrians to look both ways before crossing!


Folgers coffee: Manhole

Stickers with an aerial view of a coffee mug were placed on top of steaming manholes all over Manhattan. Small holes in the sticker allowed the steam to exit the drainage system.


Revista Demolicion

Surfboard-shaped stickers were placed on moving walkways to promote extreme sport magazine Demolicion.


Dermagraphic Tattoo

Dermagraphic Tattoo's placed stickers of tattoos in various bathroom and changing room mirrors so that people could line the tattoos up in the mirror to give the impression that they were actually on their skin, in order to promote their mission to "try before you buy a tattoo". Below the tattoo was another sticker with the message.


Wilkinson Eggs

Wilkinson Quattro Titanium placed transparent stickers of masculine faces on the eggs and put an advertising flyer with a promotion on the back in every box.


Elmex Lockers

Elmex used two rows of lockers to create a mouth with teeth. Opening a locker gave the ilusion that there was a hole in one of them. To complete the experience, a product sample and additional information about the toothpaste and its benefits were waiting inside the locker. In one month 35.000-40.000 people were exposed to the message.


Folliderm

Folliderm, a crand that prevents hair loss, used elevators in corporate offices and residential buildings to promote their company. A face of an man was stuck on the elevator door; such that his hair was stuck on one door and the rest of his face on the other. When the door opened, the hair pulled away. Another print was stuck in the inside of the elevator – where the man was shown bald. The line read: “Scared of losing your hair? Ask your doctor about Power 1+4″.


Gillette

Outdoor ads in high-traffic Manhattan neighborhoods were tagged with bloody tissue stickers – making it appear that men in the ads had nicked themselves shaving.


Golden Holidays

Stickers were placed onto the pull-down meal tray on-board selected Malaysia Airlines domestic flights making the captive audience “feel” their next holiday.


Greenpeace

Floor Stickers that resembled puddles of water were placed on the streets of China to raise awareness of the huge problem of unsafe drinking water in China.


HomePlus Subway

Stickers were applied to the subway station pillars in order to make them look like life-size HomePlus supermarket stands. The intended effect was to make the people entering the subway station feel like they were stepping into the HomePlus supermarket. No TV/Print ads were carried out for HomePlus. As a result of this unique outdoor campaign, the sales for the opening day exceeded the expected sales by 550%.


Restaurant-bar Le Cactus "Monday Hot Wings"

Le Cactus restaurant-bar communicated the burning effect of spicy wings by putting stickers featuring the face of a men screaming on the rear window of taxis. The man’s tongue is superimposed on the central brake light, creating the effect of extreme heat.


Frontline Flea & Tick Spray "Crawling"

Huge floor stickers placed in malls to promote their solution to pet flea problems.


Jobsintown.de

Brilliant sticker advertising campaign that won prestigious awards and drew in a lot of website traffic.


Dressing for Pleasure

The company, Dressing for Pleasure, a specialist in fetish wear put stickers of enticing rear ends on the bottoms of ketchup bottles. Thus inviting bar patrons to explore a completely different appetite while addressing their hunger.


Lay's Installation

People walking through Chicago’s Jackson Tunnel were greeted with an overhead installation of potatoes breaking through the ceiling tiles, along with a witty message: “Our potatoes are grown closer than you may think.”


Lifebroker

To promote Lifebroker and the benefits of life insurance, McCann Melbourne put fallen safes in the middle of office foyers to get people to read the sticker above.


Meiji

Meiji created life-sized stickers of a sumo wrestler, a rugby player, a judokan and a wrestler. These stickers were affixed on the revolving doors of buildings to interact with their consumers. Once they pushed against the door, it seemed like these sportsmen push back and don’t allow them to come in. But of course, the door opened in the usual way. The copy line says simply “Milk makes you stronger. Meiji.”


Pedigree

Pedigree placed stickers in the shape of a dog barge in front of supermarkets and pet stores. These stickers were treated with essence of Pedigree dog food and therefore irresistible for every dog passing by. They ran towards the sticker and began to lick, sniff and wagged their tails, so their owners immediately knew what to buy.


Pert Plus Shampoo

Pert Plus Shampoo placed transparent waterproof sticker in various public bathrooms, that simulated a hair reaching out from the drain struggling to avoid being flushed in by the water.


Pirates of the Caribbean

Clever sand stickers were placed on diving boards of swimming pools to promote the Pirates of the Caribbean movie.


All-China Women’s Federation "Door"

This ambient poster appeared on swinging doors in offices and shopping malls to raise awareness of domestic violence in China.


Israel Cancer Association

The Israel Cancer Association placed framed stickers around real stains on sidewalks near the beaches of Israel, to encourage people to get check-ups if they notice unusual spots/stains on their bodies.


Pro Skates Skateboard Shop

Pro Skates Skateboard Shop stuck removable vinyl stickers onto crosswalk sign around high schools and skate parks to turn our fellow walking man into a skateboarding dude.


SOSrainforests.com Interactive Stickers

Interactive stickers on light switches in enterprises, schools and offices helped save energy and decrease global heating effects.


Sushi Roll "Sushi Train"

Stickers of sushi meals were bonded at the handrails of an escalator.


Tyskie

Tyskie placed beer mug stickers behind doors of restaurants and shops as part of their advertising campaign.


Unicef Landmine Stickers

Landmine-stickers with self-adhesive topsides were placed on the floor. They were invisible until they stuck to your feet. While removing them, people discovered the landmine-picture on the bottom side and were informed that in many other countries they would have been mutilated at this moment.


hlx.com "Instant Vacation Floor"

hlx.com's promotion was aimed at bargain hunters who pick their travel destinations rather spontaneously. While they were waiting for boarding, their floor stickers gave them an impression of what their next vacation could be like – at a very reasonable price.


TV3 "Wipe out dryer"

To promote Wipeout (a TV show where people wipe out on obstacle courses to win money) stickers were placed inside laundromat dryers to give people something to look at while they waited for their washing to dry


Wodzielak Driving School

Special stickers with comments about films were attached to DVD boxes. At the same time, the stickers communicated the benefits of taking a course in the advertised school.


Vodafone "Bus window sticker"

Promoting internet on your mobile phone by showing all the benefits of moving image and entertainment in a window sticker.


Zoo Safari

To communicate that Zoo Safari is not a common zoo, because the animals run free just like in a safari, Zoo Safari created electrostatic stickers containing animal picture that can be placed on the windshield of parked cars to make the visitor imagine what it would feel like to be so close to a wild animal.


Compiled exclusively for WDD by Zoe Ajiboye.

What do you think of this adverts? Share other examples below...

WDD Staff

WDD staff are proud to be able to bring you this daily blog about web design and development. If there's something you think we should be talking about let us know @DesignerDepot.

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