Bray & Co, the independent, full service creative agency, is breaking a mind-bending campaign to launch DarkSky One, a concept car unlike any vehicle ever seen. Dark Sky International is the disruptive global nonprofit leading the fight against light pollution by championing a simple, transformative idea: protecting darkness protects life on Earth. They partner with scientists, policy makers, technologists, designers, communities and cultural partners to restore naturally dark skies, reduce ecological disruption and reawaken humanity’s relationship with the night.
Bray & Co was partnered with DarkSky through Purpose, Produced, a groundbreaking initiative led by Advertising Week and SixDegrees.org, the nonprofit founded by Kevin Bacon. The prototype car is a virtual creation debuting at the Detroit Auto Show. The car was designed by Phiaro, Tokyo, one of the world’s most prestigious automotive design firms. Bray & Co and Phiaro both worked on this campaign pro bono.
“We are creating the first car in history designed for nighttime first to get people thinking about light pollution, because just talking about light bulbs isn’t enough to grab people’s attention,” said Peter Bray, Executive Creative Director, Bray & Co. “We are turning DarkSky International, the environmental purpose organization, into DarkSky Motors, the automotive brand, a bold cultural innovator. The car becomes a symbol, a spark, and a spotlight, showing how the responsible use of man-made light can protect nature and restore wonder.”
To that end, Bray & Co produced a :30 hero film that opens in the western U.S. where desert meets mountains as the sun vanishes and the night sky emerges, a blazing field of stars. The red taillight of a sleek black sports car runs from left to right and the car is then seen mysteriously in silhouette, then from the front, its trim light panels pulsing blue. The car, impossible to classify, drives down a lonely road toward a mountain pass under the looming flare of the moon.
The film is AI, as are the images placed into photos posted on Instagram, where they continue to generate buzz. The car design is real. The Detroit Auto Show’s organizers were so entranced by the project that they donated prime space and a time slot for DarkSky One to debut, with an on-site holographic presenter to introduce the car and the purpose behind it. A technology firm, Transcend Holographic, is donating a full-scale hologram system as part of an immersive, nighttime environment that transforms the trade show floor into a blacked-out world where the DarkSky One concept comes alive.
“We’re thrilled to have the Auto Show as our launch platform because so much of the show is devoted to the latest in luxury cars and lighting technology and the DarkSky One exists to remind people that lighting, while it has its place, also has its limitations,” Bray added
