Cool Ad Watch

Ariel Schwartz applauds a novel recruitment technique:

Universities usually try to attract students with successful alumni, traditional advertisements, and in the case of elite schools, a positive track record. UTEC, the University of Engineering and Technology in Lima, Peru, decided to pull off a clever engineering stunt to attract a new class of techie do-gooder students: create a billboard on the Pan-American Highway that generates potable water out of thin air. Lima is the ideal place for a water-creating billboard–it almost never rains in the desert environment, so there is a lack of fresh water. And yet atmospheric humidity can climb up to 98%, so the air is thick with potential droplets.

Alejandro Aponte, the creative director at ad agency Mayo DraftFCB Peru, explains the advertising element:

What we came up with, was the idea of showing these young students, with a real-life example, how engineer methods can give solutions to real-life problems. The example in this case is very clear: We solved the lack of potable water in a needed community, transforming the air humidity into free-drinking water.

via The Dish http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/02/27/cool-ad-watch-62/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+andrewsullivan%2FrApM+%28The+Dish%29