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May 5, 2003 - Strategy Magazine
Regular Features

Campaign Spotlight
Playland leaves a lasting impression

by Kristen Vinakmens
page 4

New advertising for Vancouver's Playland suggests it is such an exhilarating place, you'll look like you just stepped off a roller coaster even after you've settled in back at home.

This is the fourth campaign by Vancouver shop Rethink for the amusement park, and it follows the same theme as the previous work, according to Ian Grais, co-CD and partner at Rethink.

"The strategy has always been the same - to communicate that [Playland] is a place where you get a real thrill. Every year, we try to find a new way to say that."

Grais says Rethink has always taken chances with its campaigns for Playland, given the fact that its target is 14- to 20-year-olds. "We have a very co-operative client that really understands that our youth target wants to be entertained."

While previous executions in the campaign (which have picked up a multitude of awards) have used Satanic imagery to raise awareness and attendance, the current effort, using the tagline "The feeling lasts," conveys the aftereffects the park can have on various people.

The campaign includes radio, print, TV and outdoor.

One of the radio spots features a dizzy teen whose mother fears her son is hopped up on drugs after visiting the park, while in a print ad, a bizarre-looking man appears to have nearly lost his toupee after his Playland adventures.

The print component, incorporating images of people hung upside down and photographed inside a gravity booth, is currently running in area newspapers. Radio launched at the end of April, while outdoor and TV work debut in June.

Credits

Creative Directors: Ian Grais and Chris Staples

Copywriter: Andy Linardatos

Art Director: Ian Grais

Photographer: Hans Sipma

Studio Artist: Brent Mulligan

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