What better way to promote Adobe Creative Days than live Photoshopping the faces and bodies of people who are waiting for their bus and placing them in an ad right next to them. Awesome? Yes! Creepy? Well, that too!
The following campaign was built around (and with the help of) Erik Johansson (hello, very-talented-Photoshop-magician-with-a-Swedish-name!), a very capable retouch artist who seems to know all the secrets of Adobe’s graphics editing program. Erik is a Swede who currently resides and works in Berlin, Germany. He has been co-opted by Adobe Nordic to create this ingenious prank that would later be used for promoting Adobe Creative Days, an event that took place in Stockholm last week.
Erik, along with an assistant, took photos of people waiting for the bus from a van that looks very inconspicuous at a first glance. After doing so, they proceeded to retouching the images. The result was shown on the ad display from the bus stop, so it would have been impossible for the Photoshopped people to miss this. As far as I remember, buses, trams, and any other means of public transportation ran regularly in Stockholm, so the possibility of the bus running late is excluded. In this context, it means that Erik is very fast and knows very well what he’s doing.
The first victim ended up applauding the ones who were turning him into an ad, despite not knowing who was behind this. A #CreativeDay hash tag was displayed at all times above the Photoshopped image, so at least people were given a hint. The two who were photographed next definitely weren’t a couple and most definitely didn’t even know each other. This did not stop Erik from putting them together on what looked like a movie poster.
Things got more serious with the next pair, who got transferred instantly from the bus station onto a wedding cake, kissing each other. Probably Erik also wanted to play the role of Cupid a bit. Now that’s a conversation starter!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRAM8MpqIeA&w=600&h=338]
In case you want to stay up-to-date with the things Erik does, or if you want to show him your appreciation, his Twitter handle is @tackochgodnatt (simply translated as “Thanks and good night”). I’m more than glad that the Nordic division of Adobe puts such creative minds to a good use!
If you liked this post, please check the girl with the Photoshop tattoo and these pieces of Photoshop command wall art.
