Times Square Turns Psychedelic 🍄
Times Square Turns Psychedelic 🍄
Ad creative challenges 54 years of stigma and the War on Drugs through two gigantic digital displays in heart of New York City.
Image Credit: Вячеслав Ткачёв
Case Study: New York City, June 2022
For five minutes, every hour, on 47th & Broadway— Times Square turned psychedelic during NFT.NYC.
Two large DOOH ads displayed visionary artwork donated from the world’s leading artists to promote Christie’s Auction House artworks in Cartography of the Mind: A Curated NFT Sale to Benefit MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies).
Briefed with creating a 1-minute hero spot to hug the back-end of the Christie’s ads, Tiny Elephant partnered with MAPS to challenge the War on Drugs and guide viewers to question 54 years of stigma, misinformation, and misunderstanding — without the use of the word “psychedelic.”
The “Save Your Psyche” 60 sec digital spectacular seamlessly connects oddly satisfying videos on a metaphysical path toward consciousness. Each scene was inspired by one of the five senses and made to resemble therapeutic techniques and technology involved in psychedelic research such as brain waves, breathing, and floating.
With America in the throes of a mental health crisis, MAPS disrupted the frenetic bustle of Time’s Square with a big moment of zen. A calm, cinematic, and peacefully dynamic visual journey.
This ad is major milestone for the non-profit org in their leadership role within the Psychedelic Renaissance. Thank you to the entire MAPS team, led by Rick Doblin, for paving the way to mass healing. We are proud and honored to play a part in the mission with you.
Watch the psychedelic video here.
Creative Credits:
Stephanie Dale, Creative Director
Whitney Weir, Animation & Video
Yasi Salavatian, Storytelling Strategist
Anthony Woodward, Post-Production
Beth Loughman, Project Management
Strategy Credits:
Daniella Soofer, Head of Strategy
Elliott Desai, Renaissance Man
Tara Malek, Brand Architect
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Sign up to donate monthly on maps.org and support the important and honest work of a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and educational organization that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the careful uses of psychedelics and marijuana.
Are you interested in learning more?
MAPS has an introductory course called Psychedelic Fundamentals, guiding newcomers through the basics of psychedelics via a series of short, easy-to-follow lessons. Within a couple of hours, Fundamentals provides students with a broad overview of the most interesting and important aspects of psychedelic history, science, clinical research, therapeutic uses, and harm reduction, backed by over 36 years of MAPS experience.
It’s the perfect starting point for those considering psychedelic use, seeking information to support a loved one, or interested in how psychedelics work and what benefits they may provide.