mycar: Sunburnt Car
mycar tasked TBWA\Sydney with raising awareness about the hidden dangers of UV exposure while driving. The client needed to shift the perception that car interiors are safe havens from the sun. The target audience was everyday drivers who neglect sun protection during commutes. The goal was to create a memorable, high-impact visual campaign that would drive home the necessity of sunscreen before getting behind the wheel.
Creative Idea
The agency built a car interior out of human skin that burns under UV.
mycar transformed a vehicle interior into realistic human skin that blushes under UV light, turning a mundane car commute into a visceral, skin-crawling reminder that UV rays penetrate glass and require sun protection.
Turning Commutes Into A Living Warning
Crafting The Living Interior
To achieve the visceral, skin-like texture of the vehicle interior, the team at TBWA\Sydney collaborated with specialized prosthetic artists. The production utilized high-grade silicone molds embedded with reactive pigments that shift color when exposed to specific UV wavelengths. This required a custom-built, climate-controlled environment to ensure the "skin" reacted consistently under studio lighting, mimicking the exact physiological process of a human sunburn. The result was a hyper-realistic, tactile experience that blurred the line between automotive design and medical illustration.
Driving Real World Behavior
The campaign achieved significant traction by bridging the gap between creative shock and practical safety. Following the launch, mycar reported a 55,000 increase in traffic to their digital skin-check resources, directly correlating with the campaign’s peak visibility. The initiative generated substantial earned media, with a PR value exceeding initial projections as the campaign sparked national conversations about the overlooked dangers of UV penetration through side windows. By framing the car as a place of vulnerability rather than a shield, the brand successfully drove a measurable lift in consumer demand for protective window tinting services and routine skin health consultations.
A Strategic Shift In Safety
The project was designed to challenge the complacency of daily commuters who often neglect sunscreen during short trips. By turning the car into a literal canvas for sun damage, the agency moved the conversation away from abstract health warnings toward an immediate, visual threat. This approach proved highly effective in shifting brand perception, positioning mycar not just as a vehicle maintenance provider, but as a proactive partner in the personal health and safety of their customers.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
As a trusted automotive service provider, mycar possesses the authority to educate drivers on vehicle safety and health.
Category
Automotive brands typically focus on performance, luxury, or maintenance, ignoring the health risks of the driving environment.
Customer
Drivers feel safe inside their cars and rarely consider that UV rays can cause skin damage while commuting.
Culture
Heightened awareness of skin cancer prevention and the desire for visceral, shareable visual storytelling in advertising.
Company
As a trusted automotive service provider, mycar possesses the authority to educate drivers on vehicle safety and health.
Category
Automotive brands typically focus on performance, luxury, or maintenance, ignoring the health risks of the driving environment.
Strategy:
Manifest an invisible health threat as a physical reality to force immediate behavioral change.
Customer
Drivers feel safe inside their cars and rarely consider that UV rays can cause skin damage while commuting.
Culture
Heightened awareness of skin cancer prevention and the desire for visceral, shareable visual storytelling in advertising.
Strategy:
Manifest an invisible health threat as a physical reality to force immediate behavioral change.
Strategy Technique
Make the Invisible Visible
The campaign takes the silent, unseen danger of UV rays through car windows and gives it a physical, disturbing form, making a neglected health risk impossible to ignore.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Create Fantasy Worlds, People and Things
By crafting a hyper-realistic, skin-covered car interior, the agency created a tangible, grotesque fantasy that forces viewers to confront the invisible threat of UV exposure in a way that static ads never could.
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Craft Breakdown
This campaign stands out due to its extraordinary physical execution, merging medical science with Hollywood-grade special effects to create a visceral, unforgettable metaphor.
The complete, hyper-realistic transformation of a car's interior into synthetic human skin is a masterclass in physical fabrication.
Integrating photochromic pigments into silicone to mimic UV-induced sunburn is an innovative use of material science.
