Plug Your Headphones Into This Billboard And Travel To Another City
Billboards may not be the most beloved pieces of urban furniture, they do however inspire to new creative forms of use. Passers-by in Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam are now invited to plug their headphones into an interactive billboard and listen to original sounds from another city.
The billboard series is part of a campaign by railroad company Thalys in collaboration with French advertising agency Rosapark. Each billboard shows a map of the city and has over 1,000 audio jack ports spread all over. Every port lets you listen to a unique sound of a specific place in that city. This way passers-by can experience a bit of Paris while being in Amsterdam, or hear the sound of Brussels from a sidewalk in Paris. With the campaign Thalys wants to offer people a sneak peek of a travel experience and, of course, encourage you to book your train ticket to get the full treatment.
The campaign does not just provide a instant way of listening to another city on the street, it also explores a new way of urban advertising. Advertising in general mainly focuses on sight, while hearing has a big influence on our minds too. Now that almost everyone carries a set of earplugs on the streets, billboards might get a voice too.
