Peak Fear Experiment: Exploring Fear & Fun | Clapboard Ad Archive

The Peak Fear Experiment

Description

In October 2023, Liseberg, in collaboration with the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University, launched a groundbreaking campaign called The Peak Fear Experiment aimed at exploring the psychological boundaries of recreational horror. Created by the ad agency Welcom, this Ambient, Experiential, and Film campaign targeted audiences interested in health, recreation, leisure, and travel and tourism, delivering a compelling narrative around the question of whether fear can be beneficial. The campaign centered around a unique event held at Liseberg Amusement Park, where the limits of fear and fun were tested through an innovative experiment that attracted 1,640 applicants from 22 countries, selecting just two participants to push the boundaries of emotional experience. Through a single powerful media asset titled THE PEAK FEAR EXPERIMENT | Hela Dokumentären, the campaign documented this intricate balance between enjoyable adrenaline and genuine discomfort, inviting viewers to reflect on the nature of fear in a recreational context. The campaign also encouraged engagement by directing audiences to read a detailed report on the experiment’s findings, reinforcing credibility and fostering community discussion. The campaign’s Swedish-language content was strategically aligned with seasonal events like Halloween, amplifying relevance and appeal through hashtags such as #liseberg, #peakfear, #recreationalfearlab, and #halloweenpåliseberg, further embedding the brand in culturally resonant moments. By positioning the experiment as both a scientific inquiry and a thrilling experience, the campaign successfully enhanced Liseberg’s reputation as an innovative destination that pushes experiential boundaries, while generating meaningful conversation about the complex relationship between fear and enjoyment.

Credits

Client

Liseberg

Agency

Welcom

Art Director

Andreas Larsson

Copywriter

Niclas Hallgren

Creative Director

Jonas Sjövall

Account Management

Joakim Brinkenberg, Karin Källberg

Strategic Planner

Adam Wladis, Robert Johnsson

Production House

IsThisIt, Gothenburg, Sweden

More like this

The Imagination Machine - S7 Airlines | Clapboard Ad Archive

S7 Airlines’ The Imagination Machine campaign, developed by Wieden + Kennedy for the Netherlands market in 2015, reframed the boundaries between human aspiration and technological innovation within the travel and leisure sector through an arresting live activation that put the participant’s mind at the centre of the airline’s brand promise. The campaign’s core idea — enabling people to guide a digital plane to their dream destination using nothing but focused thought detected by EEG-brainwave headsets — was as literal as it was metaphorical, marrying state-of-the-art biosensor technology with the emotional charge of wanderlust. By turning the act of imagining a journey into a demonstrable, visible performance, the campaign did away with narrative vignettes or stylised symbolic devices, adopting what Clapboard’s taxonomy would recognise as FORMAT#1—Demonstration: participants saw their intent rendered in real time on a projection-mapped globe, visually experiencing the tangible link between desire and movement that S7 Airlines seeks to enable. The live element heightened the stakes: sustained concentration was rewarded not just with a virtual victory, but with an actual roundtrip airline ticket, collapsing the distance between engagement and product benefit while positioning the airline as a conduit for personal dreams realised through innovation. In a category crowded with romanticised storytelling and generic adventure tropes, the campaign’s strength lay in its singular focus on interactivity as proof, offering a direct route from consumer aspiration to brand action and sidestepping abstraction in favour of unequivocal, technology-enabled demonstration. Without recourse to spectacle for its own sake or overblown emotional appeals, The Imagination Machine put the product experience — movement powered by human imagination — front and centre for the audience, aligning closely with S7 Airlines’ ambition to redefine what it means to fly wherever one can imagine. Clapboard rates this 82/100. This campaign matters because it crystallises the competitive advantage of experiential technology in travel marketing even as it signals a broader shift from narrative persuasion towards tangible proof in an innovation-led category.

Campaign Proposition

The Peak Fear Experiment campaign by Liseberg, launched in October 2023, positions the brand as an innovator in immersive leisure experiences that explore the psychological interplay between fear and enjoyment. By collaborating with Aarhus University's Recreational Fear Lab, the campaign taps into a scientific inquiry about recreational horror: identifying the threshold where fear remains thrilling rather than distressing. This unique proposition underscores Liseberg’s commitment to offering cutting-edge, experiential entertainment that pushes conventional boundaries of amusement park attractions. Strategically, the campaign leverages a strong experiential and ambient approach, inviting an international audience fascinated by the nuances of fear and excitement. With 1,640 applications from 22 countries, its highly selective participation emphasized exclusivity and engagement, appealing to thrill-seekers and psychologically curious individuals alike. The partnership with an academic research institution lends credibility and depth, differentiating Liseberg within the travel and leisure market by blending entertainment with behavioral science. The campaign’s creative angle—documenting the experiment and sharing the insights via film content—connects emotionally with audiences by making the intangible experience of fear tangible and analyzable. This aligns with cultural interest in Halloween and horror-themed recreation in Sweden, positioning Liseberg as a thought leader in safe yet boundary-pushing thrill experiences. The use of VFX in visual storytelling further amplifies the immersive quality, enhancing audience engagement through compelling, shareable digital content. Collectively, the campaign reflects a sophisticated market strategy that combines scientific curiosity, experiential exclusivity, and culturally relevant themes to deepen brand differentiation in a competitive travel and leisure landscape.

Creative Device

FORMAT#1 DEMONSTRATION — Directly shows how a product works and highlights its benefits. This campaign revolves around a real experiment in which participants experience Liseberg’s attractions to explore the peak of recreational fear, aiming to find the line between fun and frightening. The entire premise is a scientifically documented event, positioning Liseberg’s rides as both the subject and setting for the “Peak Fear Experiment.” The approach is demonstrative: it literally shows (and studies) how Liseberg’s offerings impact people in heightened, immersive circumstances, directly highlighting the amusement park’s unique thrill as its core benefit. ADVERTISING FORMATS EXPLAINED: https://www.clapboard.com/blog/branding-and-advertising/brand-strategy/12-advertising-creative-formats

On-This-Day - Heathrow Airport | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

On-This-Day - Heathrow Airport | Clapboard Ad Archive

Heathrow Airport’s 2023 festive campaign, conceived by St Luke’s and executed across the UK’s Travel / Leisure market, places the airport at the emotional heart of the holiday season with a nuanced narrative built around the message that the most meaningful festive memories often begin not at the destination, but at the airport itself. Rejecting the category’s oversaturated palette of seasonal cliché, the campaign instead threads a trio of vignette films—Love, Arrival, and Keepsake—each capturing intimate, authentic moments between travellers in Heathrow’s Terminal 5, from a young couple inspired by the warmth of an older pair to a multi-generational family reflecting on tradition and upcoming milestones, and a father-daughter duo gently negotiating grief and legacy in the Fortnum & Mason bar. By anchoring the narrative in everyday, aspirational user imagery—what Clapboard’s taxonomy would classify as FORMAT#10—Associated User Imagery—the creative draws directly from relatable travel scenarios, elevating Heathrow's space from utilitarian transit hub to a living set for human connections that transcend geographies and generations. The use of real couples as actors and genuine multi-generational dynamics infuses the work with emotional credibility, while the airport’s premium environments are woven in seamlessly, with locations like Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food and high-end retail experience nodding to Heathrow’s broader brand promise. This integrated campaign uses full-spectrum media—TV, video on demand, cinema, digital out-of-home, out-of-home, and social platforms, including placements in Spitalfields Market and Lakeside Shopping Centre—to maximize reach and resonance across a period flooded by competitive festive messaging. Each film closes on the tagline Heathrow. The best memories start here, strategically positioning the airport as the essential launch point for personal, enduring stories that outlast the journey itself and supporting a distinctive territory in UK airport marketing that prioritizes warmth, authenticity, and shared experience over logistical prowess or retail spectacle. Clapboard rates this 64/100. As holiday travel advertising becomes increasingly commoditized, this campaign signals the growing value of emotional authenticity and carefully cast, everyday storytelling in elevating brand perception within the travel and tourism sector.

From Germany to the World Since 1898 - Rimowa | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

From Germany to the World Since 1898 - Rimowa | Clapboard Ad Archive

RIMOWA’s 2022 campaign From Germany to the World Since 1898, developed with Anomaly’s Berlin office, asserts the luggage maker’s identity as the global standard-bearer for German engineering in the travel and leisure market. Anchored in the artistic conceit of Ingenieurskunst—a term that distills the brand’s engineering ethos into the language of poetry—the campaign leverages a 360-degree strategy to immerse viewers in the craft, resilience, and technical rigor underpinning RIMOWA’s iconic aluminium Classic Cabin suitcases. At its core is a visually striking film that transforms hand-built sets, kinetic installations, and over 6000 rivets and 180 sheets of anodized aluminium into living testaments to German precision; these tactile homages fuse raw materials and advanced machinery with the handcraft and scrutiny mastered in Cologne since 1898. The cinematic treatment—elevated by the orchestral interpretation of Daft Punk’s Around the World by the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln—underscores the theme of international journeys powered by German ingenuity, using music, set design, and gleaming surfaces to situate engineering as an artistic pursuit rather than a technical necessity. Strategically, the work positions RIMOWA in sharp relief against category competitors by embracing what Clapboard’s taxonomy would classify as FORMAT#11—Unique Personality Property: instead of deploying testimonial, problem-solution, or celebrity-led formats, the campaign roots itself entirely in the heritage, engineering mastery, and aesthetic codes that make the brand singular. This distinct positioning sets RIMOWA apart from brands like TUMI and Away, which lean into technology, direct-to-consumer innovation, or lifestyle narratives; here, the narrative is the artful logic of production itself, staged for a discerning audience that equates craftsmanship with cultural capital. The campaign’s kinetic sculptures—constructed from actual suitcase components—serve not only as symbols of product durability and lightness but as physical representations of the symphonic balance between industrial strength and the human touch. Multi-channel social engagement, spanning Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn, reinforces the fusion of legacy and contemporaneity, amplifying RIMOWA’s status among a global cohort of travelers who demand both substance and style from their mobility tools. The campaign earns a 78/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. This campaign matters because it demonstrates how a legacy brand can command cultural relevance by transforming technical distinction into a sustained, elevated brand narrative.

More than just the journey - Icelandair | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

More than just the journey - Icelandair | Clapboard Ad Archive

Icelandair’s 2023 campaign More than just the journey, created by Hvíta húsið for the travel and tourism market, redefines the airline experience by weaving together comfort and adventure through the narrative of a mother and daughter duo whose distinct needs embody the airline’s dual value proposition. The mother character stands for Icelandair’s commitment to premium onboard amenities—ranging from in-flight entertainment, quality food and beverage offerings, Wi-Fi connectivity, to preferential seating—that ensure a seamless and enjoyable flight, while the daughter captures the restless spirit of wanderlust, enabled by Icelandair’s expansive network and frequent flight schedule that unlocks a world of diverse destinations. This storytelling strategy elevates the airline beyond a mere mode of transport by making its service benefits the very catalyst for the journey itself, an approach that aligns with what Clapboard classifies as FORMAT#6—Benefit Causes Story—where the product’s advantages are integral to the plot’s progression rather than serving as mere background or illustrative detail. By humanizing the brand through a relatable family dynamic, the campaign addresses a broad audience spectrum, appealing to travelers who seek comfort and reliability as well as those driven by exploration and discovery, thereby strengthening Icelandair’s competitive positioning amid a travel sector increasingly defined by consumer demand for meaningful, multifaceted experiences. The campaign’s film assets focus on emotional resonance and clarity of message to invite viewers to envision their own dream journey facilitated by Icelandair’s services, making the airline a partner in realizing both practical needs and aspirational travel goals. The strategic narrative also serves to deepen loyalty among existing passengers while enticing new ones by underscoring how Icelandair’s blend of care, innovation, and opportunity supports a holistic travel experience. Clapboard rates this campaign 57/100. This campaign matters to the industry because it demonstrates how travel brands can leverage storytelling that integrates service benefits as narrative drivers to engage emotionally and functionally with diverse traveler motivations.

The Open Letter - Visit Stockholm | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

The Open Letter - Visit Stockholm | Clapboard Ad Archive

Welcome to Stockholm – The Open City! represents Visit Stockholm and agency Volontaire’s assertive 2018 push to reposition the Swedish capital as a diverse, cosmopolitan hub within the global travel and leisure market category, deploying a digital-first narrative that dismantles the well-trodden stereotypes of Scandinavian homogeneity. Central to the campaign is a live-casted film featuring families from the Middle East and Asia, teenage punks, skaters, climbers, wheelchair users, a priest, and other global visitors, each captured at iconic locations across the city. The campaign eschews conventional tourism tropes in favor of a direct, personality-forward approach that Clapboard’s taxonomy would classify as FORMAT#10 — Associated User Imagery, leveraging real, relatable profiles to extend the invitation of the city itself. Rather than foregrounding architectural landmarks or culinary novelties, the film becomes an open letter to the world’s lovers, haters, and hesitators, challenging preconceptions and amplifying the city’s inclusive credentials through consciously diverse casting and situational authenticity. Volontaire anchors the communication in human texture, conveying that Stockholm’s appeal lies not in exclusivity but in its willingness to welcome and be shaped by every kind of visitor — a message reinforced by the campaign’s refusal to impose a linear, product-driven narrative or problem/solution construct. With over 5.3 million views, the film demonstrates the scalability of emotional storytelling at a time when destination brands increasingly compete on the dynamic, lived social fabric of their cities rather than static branding cues. The sheer variety of visitor profiles aligns seamlessly with Visit Stockholm’s mission to attract tourism while subtly encouraging new residents, underscoring not just tolerance but active, daily cohabitation of differences. The campaign’s single media asset is a calculated play for global attention, using live-action social proof and digital amplification to drive traffic to the Visit Stockholm website, all while positioning the capital as The Capital of Scandinavia in tone and intent. The campaign earns 74/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. This work matters because it sets a new creative standard for hospitality and tourism marketing, showing that cities win the battle for hearts and minds when they showcase radical openness not as strategy, but as lived reality.

The Verse - Zywiec | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

The Verse - Zywiec | Clapboard Ad Archive

Zywiec’s 2014 activation for Poland’s Male Music festival, developed by Gong agency, captured the potent intersection of music, technology, and participatory culture in the recreation and leisure sector, putting the brand at the heart of a digital engagement wave with The Verse campaign. Centered on a purpose-built online platform, The Verse invited users to rewrite the lyrics to Electrical — a high-profile track performed by leading Polish rock artists — and experience their personalized verses being sung and rendered as custom music videos. Zywiec’s approach bypassed conventional storytelling and instead engineered a distinctive, ownable mechanic: an interactive, algorithmic tool that enabled half a million festival fans and music lovers to step into the creative process, not just as listeners but as lyricists whose contributions were validated by tangible output. More than 150,000 user-generated videos flowed from this mechanic, exemplifying what Clapboard’s taxonomy would categorize as FORMAT#11 UNIQUE PERSONALITY PROPERTY, making a creative idea inseparable from the product experience and thus the brand itself. In partnership with Gong, Zywiec managed to propel both user creativity and social sharing, leveraging Poland’s vibrant festival audience to create a self-reinforcing engine of advocacy and reach. The creative avoided the pitfalls of testimonial or dramatized narrative formats, instead foregrounding participation at scale and melding professional artistry from the country’s top rock musicians with the voice of the crowd — a direct expression of the festival’s ethos. Not only did this strengthen Zywiec’s status as an engaged festival sponsor, but it also reinforced its cultural credibility in a category where emotional resonance and social capital are core value drivers. The campaign’s digital structure made Zywiec omnipresent across user channels and touchpoints, riding the virality inherent in music and peer-to-peer sharing, while deepening audience affinity by making every participant a creator with real output to show and share. For the market category, this is a demonstration of how digital innovation and personalized creative formats can deliver mass engagement without sacrificing a sense of authenticity or tangibility for the brand. The campaign earns 72/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. Zywiec’s The Verse matters because by transforming fans into co-creators through digital craft, the brand models a participative future for experiential sponsorship in the leisure industry.

Corsair Launches Campaign on Competitors' Luggage Carousels - Corsair | Clapboard Ad Archive — archive collection thumbnail

Corsair Launches Campaign on Competitors' Luggage Carousels - Corsair | Clapboard Ad Archive

Corsair’s 2023 United Kingdom campaign, engineered by Australie.GAD, subverts travel advertising tradition by commandeering competitors’ luggage carousels to position the airline as the discerning traveler’s smarter alternative just as summer holiday season hits peak stride. Sidestepping conventional media, the activation unfolds at baggage claim — an unglamorous but high-focus micro-moment where passengers, fresh off a flight, are concentrated on retrieving their luggage and processing their experience in real time. Rather than interrupting journeys elsewhere, Corsair seized the context — and the literal surfaces — of rival carriers’ spaces, enveloping arriving suitcases with bold, visually arresting covers that tout the airline’s competitive differentiators: a young A330Neo fleet with lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, chef-driven gourmet meals, and generously sized business class cabins promising unmistakable onboard comfort. These physical touchpoints, right under the noses of freshly landed passengers, deliver the brand’s proposition with clarity and precision, compelling travelers to compare their just-completed experience with what Corsair claims to offer. The strategy targets an ambient, highly engaged scenario where other media cannot reach, achieving substantial earned attention at minimal cost — a classic piece of guerilla activation with a shrewd understanding of travel behavior. To amplify reach beyond the airport, the campaign rolled out via a brisk, montage-driven film across Corsair’s owned channels — YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok — directly inviting digital audiences to reassess their airline choices in time for the summer travel rush, and providing a direct bridge to the booking platform. The creative approach is an emphatic example of what Clapboard’s taxonomy classifies as FORMAT#4—Contrast with the Competition, with the message’s backbone being explicit, point-by-point juxtaposition of Corsair’s tangible benefits against incumbent airline experiences. In a category where British Airways leans into heritage luxury, easyJet and Ryanair duke it out on price leadership, Virgin Atlantic riffs on sensorial flair, and Lufthansa champions engineering and global networks, Corsair instead makes the brand comparison unavoidable at the very moment when passengers are most open to post-trip reassessment. This direct confrontation cuts through a distracted airport milieu, using context — and the competition’s own infrastructure — as distribution. Clapboard rates this 63/100. In a sector that often defaults to grand, undifferentiated brand films or offers, Corsair’s luggage carousel play matters because it signals a return to high-impact tactical creativity that leverages real-world behavior to reframe the airline decision at the moment of truth.