imax himax
During my time at DDB Chicago, I had the opportunity to pitch and win IMAX for a social AOR. While working on building a social media presence worthy of studio marketing budgets, I also wanted to pitch big, PR-worthy brand building ideas. The goal was to pitch them something that could change the perception of their brand from nerdy and complicated to fun and entertaining.
That’s where HIMAX came in to help make IMAX culturally relevant while leaning into their heritage as the brand that offers the most immersive film-viewing experience. We aimed to take advantage of an existing behavior their fans were already doing before our screenings by creating a one-of-a-kind experience that allows IMAX to effectively become the place to be on 4/20.
We would work with a cannabis partner to create a special strain of weed for an annual 4/20 screening and encourage fans to try it before a 4/20 screening.
We’d work with distribution partners to give stoner movies the full IMAX treatment with a complete DMR remaster and their own brand burst poster made of smokable rolling paper.
We would also release a line of exclusive HIMAX merch like an Expanded Aspect Ratio rolling tray, an IMAX camera pipe and a film canister grinder with the selected film to be kept as a memento for this 4/20 screening with future screenings brining new drops, allowing IMAX to own 420.