I find life-size video screen ads with images of people really unnerving, and that was before I came to realize that they could be watching me back. Toy company Mattel, out to promote its board games before the holidays, created a cool event that brought random shoppers and an actor in a remote location together…to play board games.

Yes, appeared to be just a billboard with a photo of a dude holding a box was really a live video feed. Then things take a weird turn with life-size teddy bears and other manifestations of the items drawn on the Pictionary board. Of course, the winners all received piles of board games as well.

What I like about the footage in the video is that the first little boy shown who accepts the challenge to play Pictionary is not at all freaked out that there is someone on the other side of the billboard watching him, and that being wants to play. When you’re young enough and have an active enough imagination, this makes perfect sense. The rest of this child’s life will be a profound disappointment, as no ad will ever spring to life and play with him ever again. Or––here’s a scary thought––thanks to artificial intelligence, all of them will.

This Digital Mall Ad Plays Pictionary With You, and Gives Out Fabulous Prizes [AdWeek]

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