Fake out of home
CGI makes a billboard or street stunt look like it really happened.
- Difficulty
- Needs 3D or CGI
- Video length
- 8–15 s
- Brand cases
- 8, 7 with video
- Markets
- United States, South Korea, United Kingdom, France
- Sources checked
- Nov 2026
What the format is
A digital effect turns a real city into the ad: a mascara brush sweeps along a train, products burst out of a billboard, a building wears the brand. Nothing was installed. The clip is made to look like phone footage of a stunt, which is why the format is known as FOOH.
Beat by beat
- 1Bystander framing0–1 s
- 2The ad comes alive1–3 s
- 3It touches the city3–7 s
- 4Back to plausible7–10 s
- 1. 0–1 s
Bystander framing
Shaky, phone-height shot of a real street, train or building.
- 2. 1–3 s
The ad comes alive
The billboard or object starts moving in a way physics shouldn’t allow.
- 3. 3–7 s
It touches the city
The product interacts with real things: a train, a bridge, traffic, passers-by.
- 4. 7–10 s
Back to plausible
The effect settles so the last frame could pass for a real placement.
Why it works
- It borrows the credibility of street footage, so the first reaction is “where is this?” rather than “this is an ad”.
- The “is it real?” question drives comments and shares, and comments feed distribution.
- It costs a fraction of real out-of-home media while looking like a city takeover.
How brands shot it
8 cases, 7 with the original video. The videos come from the brands’ own accounts or their agencies and play in the platform’s player.
The Ryder Cup
45 Days to GoFOOH.com Awards Gold 2026CGI Ryder Cup elements layered onto footage from 17 New York locations shot in one day, so the city looks taken over by the tournament, subway car included.
- Result
- The film won Gold at the 2026 FOOH.com Awards. Source: adam+gary.
- FOOHBase voted it the Best Branded FOOH. Source: adam+gary.
- Made by
- adam+gary
- Video
- Vimeo, posted by adam+gary (production company)
Trade pressRead the source: adam+gary
Lotte Chilsung
CGI video of a huge vending machine stocked with Chilsung Cider built into a building facade in Seoul's Seongsu-dong; green stars are absorbed by its QR code and oversized cans pop out onto the street.
- Video
- Instagram, posted by @lottechilsung (brand account)
Ad library listing, posted by the brandRead the source: FOOH.com
Jung Saem Mool
A CGI 'fake out-of-home' piece on the COEX K-POP Square screen in Seoul: the billboard panels slide down and release giant pastel spheres, then a giant cushion compact (lid reading 'FIND YOUTIFUL') emerges and floats in the open space.
- Video
- Instagram, posted by @jsmbeauty_ (brand account)
Ad library listing, posted by the brandRead the source: FOOH.com
Chupa Chups
CGI video of a giant candy-themed Ferris wheel with lollipop-filled gondolas beside the skyscrapers at Seokchon Lake in Seoul, with the Chupa Chups flower logo at its hub.
- Made by
- WE-AR
- Video
- Instagram, posted by @chupachupskorea (brand account)
Ad library listing, posted by the brandRead the source: FOOH.com
KB Kookmin Bank
Nearly 400K views in 3 daysTo announce its new branch at Incheon Airport, the bank released a CGI short of ATMs tied with red ribbons drifting down on parachutes over the terminal.
- Result
- The first viral cut, released without ad copy, drew nearly 400,000 Instagram views in three days on channels such as Vogue Korea. According to New Daily Biz.
- On some Instagram channels, including fashion magazines, it ranked second by views, ahead of celebrity photo-shoot videos. According to New Daily Biz.
- Made by
- Oricom
- Video
- YouTube, posted by KB국민은행 (brand account)
Trade pressRead the source: New Daily (뉴데일리 Biz, Brand Brief), 2 Feb 2024
Maybelline
Lash Sensational Sky HighCGI clips show a London Tube carriage and a red double-decker bus with giant eyelashes that a wall-mounted Sky High mascara wand brushes as they pass.
- Made by
- Ian Padgham (Origiful)
- Video
- TikTok, posted by @maybelline (brand account)
Trade pressRead the source: Cosmetics Business
OB Beer
CGI video of a giant duck made of beer foam, carrying a Hanmac can on its back, drifting along the Han River near Lotte World Tower to highlight the beer's foam.
- Video
- YouTube, posted by 한맥 HANMAC (brand account)
Trade pressRead the source: New Daily
No original video yet
Jacquemus
An 8-second Instagram clip shows giant Bambino handbags with passengers inside rolling through central Paris like little cars; it was 3D-modelled and composited into existing street footage.
- Made by
- Ian Padgham (Origiful)
Trade pressRead the source: Paper Magazine
Where it took off
Jacquemus’ handbag-cars rolling through Paris (April 2023) and Maybelline’s mascara wand brushing a London Tube train (July 2023) are the most widely covered early examples. Korean business daily New Daily credits the CGI artist Ian Padgham with coining the term FOOH, and FOOH.com ties the start of the trend to the Maybelline video. Both are those sources’ claims.
Make it yours
- Beauty
A lip gloss wand paints a glossy stripe along a passing bus.
- Food & drink
A soda can on a billboard tips over and pours into the fountain below.
- Finance
A bank card slides out of a billboard like a drawer and pays the toll at the gate.
Make your version
Type your product and get a storyboard of this format, with one prompt per beat, ready for a video generator.
Video generators handle this format well
Storyboard
- 1. 0–1 s
Bystander framing
Handheld phone shot of a busy city street with a large billboard. A billboard shows your product. People walk past; nothing unusual yet.
- 2. 1–3 s
The ad comes alive
The your product on the billboard starts to move and pushes out of the frame in 3D, breaking past the billboard edges.
- 3. 3–7 s
It touches the city
The giant your product reaches into the street and touches real things: a passing bus, traffic, passers-by who stop and look up.
- 4. 7–10 s
Back to plausible
The your product settles back into the billboard. The last frame could pass for a real ad placement, with the product clearly visible.
The whole video in one prompt
Enter your email to open the full prompt. We’ll also send you the weekly brief; unsubscribe any time.
The prompt also works in Kling, Veo, Seedance and other video generators.
Before you generate
- Upload a photo of your real product to the generator (image to video), so the packaging, logo and label stay right.
- Make a still frame first and animate only the one you like: video costs more.
- Label the result as AI-generated where the platform asks for it, and say it is CGI if it could pass for a real stunt.
- This is your own take on the format, not a copy of a brand’s ad. Leave out other brands’ logos, people and music.
How to produce it
Needs a 3D artist: camera tracking, modelling and lighting matched to the plate. Disclose that it is CGI where platform rules or local advertising law require it.
Seen a brand use this?
Send us the link. If it checks out, it goes into the library with credit to you.
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