Perrier transforms Shanghai Metro into a jungle - Perrier | Clapboard Ad Archive

Perrier’s 2017 Shanghai Metro takeover exemplifies a bold, sensorial approach to branded experience in the food and drink category, transforming the South Huangpi Road station into an urban jungle to launch the PerrierXWild limited edition in partnership with Havas and STDecaux. The campaign disrupts the city’s commuter routine by converting metro pillars into towering tree trunks, crowned with artificial treetops that light up with each passerby and punctuated by the unexpected roar of a lion—a multi-sensory intervention dramatizing the idea of untamed refreshment at the core of the brand’s proposition. By physically immersing commuters in a verdant environment, Perrier moves far beyond traditional advertising, expressing its wild, invigorating spirit through theatrical and interactive design language that aligns with contemporary lifestyle values. The station also becomes a showcase, displaying the artist-designed PerrierXWild bottles and lifestyle objects to further anchor the brand’s identity in exclusivity, creativity, and cultural relevance—qualities prized by Shanghai’s metropolitan audience and increasingly essential in the global non-alcoholic drinks space. This activation finds its conceptual footing in what Clapboard’s taxonomy classifies as FORMAT#9—Symbolize the Benefit, favoring a visually exaggerated and metaphorical dramatization of product attributes over literal demonstration or narrative staging, and in doing so, it powerfully compresses the product’s energizing, exotic, and stylish effect into one striking, participatory moment. The decision to stage this activation in a high-traffic public transit location expands reach among a diverse, design- and status-conscious demographic, while embedding the Perrier brand directly into the city’s cultural and physical fabric for maximum memorability and talk value. Limited edition packaging, combined with the physicality of the metro installation, appeals to both collectors and those seeking a respite from the monotony of everyday city living, effectively positioning Perrier as an arbiter of playful, sophisticated escape in an increasingly competitive and aspirational segment. Clapboard rates this 74/100. As immersive OOH activations blur the lines between art installation and brand storytelling, Perrier’s Shanghai jungle demonstrates how a drinks brand can carve out cultural relevance by transforming routine spaces into imagined worlds that symbolize its promise.