How Adidas did something unusual for women's wear

Adidas didn’t just buy a billboard...instead, they built one underwater.

Yes, literally. Back in 2021, to launch their inclusive women’s swimwear collection under the “Watch Us Move” platform, Adidas unveiled what was called the world’s first liquid billboard in Dubai.

Instead of a static poster staring down at passersby, this billboard was a transparent pool, five meters high and three meters deep, filled with water you could swim in.

What made this installation so remarkable wasn’t just its scale but the simple, powerful idea behind it. Rather than showing models posing on a poster, Adidas invited real women to dive into the billboard wearing the new collection, turning the ad into a stage for confidence, inclusivity, and real movement.

The liquid billboard wasn’t just a stunt. Adidas had researched that many women in the UAE don’t feel comfortable wearing swimwear publicly. This activation was more than advertising. It was an invitation to enter the water, embrace the moment, and redefine what comfort and confidence mean.

Women from all walks of life, including Adidas ambassadors, were part of the activation, literally swimming in the billboard and becoming part of the story themselves.

What’s striking about this execution is how simple the core idea is and how hard it hits emotionally. There was no gimmicky AR overlay, no dazzling CGI, just a bold, honest physical experience placed exactly where it makes sense. That is outdoor advertising logic at its purest: make people stop, look, react, and ideally participate.

The activation didn’t just turn heads in Dubai. It spread across global media, earned millions in coverage, and even won creative awards for its impact.

This campaign proves a timeless truth about OOH: great outdoor ads aren’t tied to trends. They are tied to simple and honest human reactions. When you put a clever idea in the right place and let people experience it rather than just see it, you turn a billboard into an experience people remember and talk about.

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