6 Creative Ways Brands Used the Sky as Their Canvas

While sun soakers hit South Beach for Sun Bum’s public "Just Use Sunscreen" campaign takeover on June 1—which included a 10-foot sun dial, interactive games, and prize giveaways—a banner flew above, encouraging everyone to use sunscreen regardless of the brand. Evan Slater, CMO of Sun Bum, explained the addition of a sky banner as an extension of the brand's mission to combat skin cancer. "'Just Use Sunscreen' is about moving the needle in the fight against skin cancer," he said. "That's why we advocate for sunscreen use, regardless of brand choice. Our priority is protection above all else. The airplane banner felt like a natural extension of this mission. Whether at our event or elsewhere on the beach, our goal was to get the attention of as many beachgoers as possible and remind them to stay protected.”

New York City’s Empire State Building debuted a 270-foot inflatable dragon wrapped around the building’s mast ahead of Max’s House of the Dragon season two premiere on June 16. Vhagar the Dragon is the exclamation point on a weeklong Empire State activation. Max also dropped real green and black “team” banners throughout the New York Metro area (and digital versions on social media) to ignite the premiere campaign.

The famous Red Bull skydive team made quite the entrance during the 2024 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix at the Miami International Autodrome. They skydived into the event and landed on the track to the Beastie Boys before the race to amp up the energy. Miles Daisher, one of the Miami jumpers, recalls, “There is nothing like being at a large, live event when the crowd gets pumped up like this.” And, of course, they recorded the jump for social media. The Red Bull Air Force features veteran aerial athletes specializing in coordinated jumps and aerobatic demonstrations, including skydiving, BASE jumping, and wingsuit flying.

Zambezi commissioned Atlas Media to produce a SXSW drone show for UKG, a tech company specializing in workforce and HR management solutions. Atlas’ presentation hovered over the Congress Avenue Bridge overlooking downtown Austin, featuring its first-ever 10-minute countdown to draw in an even larger audience. Atlas also created a scannable QR code.

When Inter Miami CF announced they had officially landed soccer’s living GOAT, Lionel Messi, back in 2023 in one of the most lucrative deals in sports history, Messi mania took over South Florida. To welcome Messi to the city earlier that summer, Adidas had an entourage of branded vehicles—a cargo ship, cigarette boats, and a helicopter—decked out in Inter Miami CF black and pink sailing through the Port of Miami.

“Miami is one of the world’s most avid soccer communities, so we wanted to make sure fans were involved in everything we did,” said Tor Southard, senior director of Adidas Soccer North America. “We knew we had to do something unprecedented to welcome our partner Messi to the city. We had an entourage of Adidas-branded vehicles—a cargo ship, cigarette boats, and helicopter—decked out in Inter Miami CF black and pink sailing through the Port of Miami. Significant coordination was required between the Port, shipping company, City of Miami, and internal partners to ensure everything went according to plan. We’re beyond proud of how it turned out.”

In October 2023, Heads in the Sky put on a surprise Harry Potter-inspired drone show before the screening of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at the Cinespia Outdoor Films at the iconic Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Hundreds of delighted fans immediately made it a viral visual stunt, which featured 300 perfectly synchronized drones. “We wanted to tell fans a story—to make them feel something unexpected," said Heads in the Sky co-founder Kevin Price.