A New Definition of Ickiness

Monster Media (Orlando), in partnership with DWA Media and BBDO West, just upped advertising’s “ickiness.” Their eight-week campaign for ESET LLC, a company that provides “proactive threat protection” (cybercrime), features wriggling maggots on an 18-screen-wide display in a storefront window. The fly larvae amass around messages about the dangers lurking on the Internet and slither away, across the gestural, interactive LCD screens, as pedestrians walk by.
The Monster Storefront, in downtown Austin, TX, is said to be the largest, interactive LCD-display in a storefront window.
This is the third partnership between ESET and Monster Media. Other collaborations included displays in San Francisco and a tradeshow in Washington, DC.
Interestingly, maggots can serve some good purposes. Anglers can use them for bait. In fact, U.K. fisherman buy them in vending machines. Commercial maggot breeders dye the maggots different colors so they’re more “attractive” to the fish. Also, fly larvae, which eat rotting flesh, have been used for healing wounds. But, the maggots in this campaign flesh out how dangerous cyber worms can be, in a real grub for attention.