NIKE CHALKBOT

Click on the the image to view movie.

It is nothing new to draw pictures or write messages in chalk on the streets of cycling races but last summer when I watched the Tour de France I first heard about this thing they called the Chalkbot.

Today I was flipping through the latest Communication Arts Interactive Annual and was reminded of Nike's promotion for Lance Armstrong's LIVESTRONG Foundation during the tour.

Using the Chalkbot which is a robot that paints messages on the road from cancer survivors or anyone that sent in messages through twitter, SMS or wearyellow.com. A computer was connected to the bot and after messages were approved they were sent to print along the stage route.

More than 5,400 messages were chalked and then photographed for the writers.

Interactive to print. The designers could have just made up their own promotional tag lines but instead used others to create something unique and more powerful for those involved with cancer.

Below is a video (pre-tour) showing how it worked. For full video click the image above.



For more from the Communication Arts Interactive Annual and to see the full list of credits go here.