The Art of Uncorking

Releasing a creative marketing concept!:

It is a stunning marriage between art and marketing while at the same time offering young, up-and-coming artists an opportunity to showcase their talents. The creations on display are no ordinary sculptures - they were made with toilet paper.

There was much acclaim among the select crowd at the opening night of ‘The Art of Uncorking’ exhibition held at the Art Way Gallery in Nugegoda recently.

Not surprisingly, there were raised eyebrows, and more than a few chuckles among amused art aficionados, who got the exhibition’s cheeky message with ease.

In a bold move, Mega LifeSciences, the company behind the new laxative, together with its advertising partner, Phoenix Ogilvy, decided to take this very original and unconventional route to announce the launch of ‘GoEzy’ in the local medical market.

The artists were tasked with interpreting the theme ‘Struggle’ using only toilet-paper. While the thought behind this innovative idea might be tongue-in-cheek, it was no laughing matter for the artists. The beautiful sculptures were painstakingly created over a period of three months.

Among the exhibits was Douglas Paul’s ‘Grimace’: A suffering man’s head, elegantly crafted with tight little knots of loo paper. “I was thrilled to be asked to be a part of this unique exhibition. It’s the first time I had done anything like this. I am also grateful for the opportunity, it was an interesting challenge,” said Paul.

Commenting on the initiative, Sujoy Roy, Creative Head for Phoenix Ogilvy said: “When Mega LifeSciences Country Manager, Praveen Viswakumaran, briefed us on their product, ‘GoEzy’, we wanted to give him something beyond the conventional marketing concepts. Being able to integrate art with marketing while also supporting our local artists is a project we were all enthusiastic about. Through ‘The Art of Uncorking’, we were able to creatively link art with the product, and simultaneously create the required hype for the product.”

The sculptures will be displayed at selected outlets of leading supermarkets in Colombo following the conclusion of the exhibition.

Not only will they be moving testaments to the creativity and ingenuity behind this clever marketing concept, but also beautiful reminders to stop ‘struggling’ and ‘GoEzy’.