Part robot, part printer, part thing you drag behind a car

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Part robot, part printer, part thing you drag behind a car

Digital

September 22, 2009 by Matt Rogers

The latest extension of the Nike/Lance Armstrong Live Strong campaign is Chalkbot. It’s like a massive ink jet printer that was used to spray chalk messages on the roads of France during the 2009 Tour de France. (Writing messages on the course is a long-standing Tour tradition.)

Through WearYellow.com, text messaging, Twitter and online ads, people submitted messages to be printed on the roads during the race. In the spirit of Live Strong, the messages were to inspire racers, as well as acknowledge people’s friends and loved ones who’ve battled cancer.

The Chalkbot was pulled behind a truck and used a bio-degradable chalk toner. Over the course of the three week race, thousands of messages were chalked.

chalkbot

There’s a lot to love in this campaign. It’s frickin’ cool. It encourages participation with the brand. It’s a perfect addition to the Live Strong campaign. And from a digital perspective, it seamlessly joined the online with the offline – a constant challenge in the desire for true integration between mediums.