UAE's 'Double Moon' campaign wins Cannes Lions 2021

Dubai - The media campaign was organised to celebrate UAE's Mars Mission.

The ‘Double Moon’ media campaign, organised ahead of Hope Probe’s arrival to Mars, has won the Outdoor Silver Lion at the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France.

The Double Moon campaign was aimed to spark people’s imagination and curiosity about life on Mars and provide a better understanding of the mission. The high-tech projection was part of an extensive media campaign carried out by the UAE Government Media Office under the slogan “Arabs to Mars” to celebrate the Emirates Mars Mission, the Arab world’s first interplanetary exploration.

Khaled Al Shehhi, executive director of New Media and Visual Production Sector at the UAE Government Media Office, said: “Creative media campaigns are most effective in stimulating the interest and inspiration that meet the ambitions of the UAE’s mega projects. Using creative concepts, we simplified the complex scientific mission of the Hope Probe and helped people understand the ways in which the UAE’s historic space project will make our life better on Earth.”

Spectators were stunned in February to see two moons in the UAE sky, particularly in the Al Qudra region. This was part of a creative campaign to celebrate the long-anticipated arrival of the UAE’s orbiter Al Amal to Mars. Mars’ twin moons Phobos and Deimos - that were ‘seen’ in the skies of Dubai - were the result of of new technology that used a 40-metre screen and two 100-meter cranes to create the illusion of these two moons.

This new technology was used for the first time in the Middle East after going sifting through 29,000 entries across 90 countries by a jury panel of leading advertising and media professionals.

Organised by the UAE Government Media Office, the campaign was widely shared on social media by astonished onlookers.

Saeed Al Eter, Chairman of the UAE Government Media Office, said: “In our media campaigns and activations, we integrate between traditional and modern media platforms to involve different target audiences in UAE’s projects and bring them together in celebration of the country’s inspiring projects that aim to build a better life for future generations.”

Alia Al Hammadi, Vice Chairperson of the UAE Government Media Office opined, “Winning international awards such as the Cannes Lions establishes the UAE’s image as a destination for creativity and talent in global consciousness.”

The nationwide campaign saw a series of creative and ambitious activations including the Martian Ink passport stamps for visitors arriving in Dubai and baby astronaut suits for newborns on February 9, 2021, the day the Hope Probe arrived to Mars.

• UAE