OMO Turkey transforms outdoor ads into play spaces

In response to urbanization and digitalization limiting children’s outdoor play, Unilever-owned laundry brand OMO has launched a campaign in Turkey that transforms OOH advertising into playgrounds. The Play is Outside initiative added soccer goals, basketball hoops and slides to billboards in Istanbul’s Kadıköy, Acıbadem and Şişli districts, creating unexpected play spaces in urban environments.

The concept aligns with OMO’s 20-year-running “Kirlenmek Güzeldir” slogan (“Dirt is Good”), which celebrates the value of physical play and the inevitable messiness that comes with it. “As adults, we often think we can’t find time or space to play outside and encourage children to do the same in urban life. But play is also a creative act,” explains Alper Capar, Unilever Turkey’s Home Care Category Marketing Director. “With this creativity, we can make room for play and sports in unexpected places and moments. We invite all children and adults to play sports on our billboards.” 

The campaign serves as a timely reminder of play’s importance beyond screens and enclosed spaces, while cleverly repurposing advertising infrastructure to benefit the communities they occupy. That said  –  those spaces will only be available for a short while. To make a lasting impact, OMO and other brands could take inspiration from Budweiser’s basketball activation in Brazil.