Pearl Jam uses AR wild postings to promote new album

Who: Pearl Jam (Universal Music Group), Havas Media and Grassroots Advertising.

What: A teaser campaign for Gigaton, the first album in seven years for the Seattle guitar band (remember them?). It uses an augmented reality lens for Facebook and Instagram that brings the album cover to life.

When & Where: The two-week campaign is rolling out simultaneously in 11 countries. The Canadian execution by Toronto-based Grassroots features wild postings in downtown Toronto.

Why: A new Pearl Jam album is something of an occasion. Gigaton is just the band’s 10th studio album in a career dating back to 1991, and they’re one of the few remaining rock bands with any sort of global clout.

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How: The Pearl Jam website features a map of the world highlighting the 11 different AR executions right down to street level, accompanied by the message “We have something special for you. Locate the nearest marker and activate the lens once you arrive.”

People who visit the specified location encounter posters with an image of the Gigaton album cover, which features an image of melting polar ice (a gigaton is the measurement used by scientists to express the loss of ice from the polar ice sheets). The image is brought to life—complete with a sound clip—when users open the lens and point their camera at the posters. Users are able to take a video of the execution and post it to their Instagram or Facebook story.

Chris Powell