Sandy art, kids' futures

Bad Astronomy
By Phil Plait
Jun 15, 2012 12:22 AMNov 20, 2019 1:29 AM

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news
 

The company that makes OMO washing machine detergent wanted to have a fun ad showing how it's OK for kids to get dirty. They commissioned JOOheng Tan, an award-winning sand sculptor, to make three huge backdrops for the ad campaign, showing the imagination of kids at play. Why am I writing about this? Because the backdrops they chose for the ad show kids being an astronaut, an archaeologist, and a physicist:

See the apple falling near her head? I missed that at first in the small image, but it's obvious in the bigger one. Very cool. Ads of the World has more info and more pictures, too. They're wonderful, so go look. They also made a lovely time lapse video showing the making of the sand sculptures and the kids playing.

[embed width="610"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52VEsbroWqM[/embed]

Nice. I know it's a soap ad, but this is the sort of thing we could use a little more of: encourging kids to be kids, encouraging them to be scientists and explorers, and encouraging them to use their imaginations. After all, science is imagination

.

Tip o' the shovel and pail to This Is Colossal, which has more background on all this too.

1 free article left
Want More? Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/month

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

1 free articleSubscribe
Discover Magazine Logo
Want more?

Keep reading for as low as $1.99!

Subscribe

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

More From Discover
Stay Curious
Join
Our List

Sign up for our weekly science updates.

 
Subscribe
To The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Copyright © 2025 LabX Media Group