Our Favorite OOH Ads from 2021

As the year comes to a close, I was excited to look back at some of my favorite out-of-home (OOH) advertisements of 2021.

One of the ads that stuck out to me the most was this Squid Game wallscape that was part of a pop-up at Itaewon Station in Seoul. Advertising the popular Netflix series, this ad covers a large wall and features the piggy bank that is prominently shown in the series.

Adding 3D elements to out-of-home signage is often difficult to pull off, but in this case, the ad was engaging, visually appealing, and recognizable. Plus, I just think the show is really good.

I’m also a big fan of 3D digital billboards, particularly this cat that took over Shinjuku Station in Tokyo earlier this year. 3D digital billboards are not only visually stunning, but also incredibly innovative in the OOH space.

今日の15時半ごろに現地で撮られた映像です。雑踏が思いのほかうるさいので、声の大きさは調整しなきゃ。再生時、音量注意です！ pic.twitter.com/8OsmcyyVOo

— 新宿東口の猫 (@cross_s_vision) July 5, 2021

It’s also no secret that I’m a K-Pop fan after I wrote this blog post about fan-sponsored K-Pop billboards a few months ago, and some of my favorite moments from this year were BTS’s many billboards in Times Square, like this one advertising their collaboration with Coldplay, or this fan-sponsored advertisement celebrating member Kim Tae-hyung’s (V) birthday earlier this month.

First bday ad in Times Sq. Thank you @V_Pintor__ Comes every :55 of the hour pic.twitter.com/V9dASFzWIS

— tae123⁷ (@Jjj25Tet) December 22, 2021

On top of those large-scale ads, the team also gathered a few of our favorite ads that our BillboardsIn customers ran this year, too.

One was an ad from YouTube channel Vlog Creations, which used clever imagery to advertise their channel. We also liked an ad we ran for fashion brand MAX+min, and an ad for the city of Turlock in California encouraging water conservation.

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