Millions of years from now, will aliens visiting an earth free of humans (or future humans, on the off chance we survive that long) find a puzzling ‘amber’ fossil of a 1979 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen? Of all the cars that could have been chosen to preserve as a time capsule, most people probably wouldn’t have chosen this one, yet here we are. The automaker has commissioned an incredible sculptural exhibition for the North American International Auto Show in Detroit (NAIAS) made of 44.4 tons of synthetic resin.

“The installation symbolizes the timelessness of the off-road legend and makes a conscious reference to the natural phenomenon of insects preserved in amber,” said Mercedes-Benz in a press release. “Like their genetic material the DNA of the first G-Class has also been preserved and is handed down from generation to generation. These genes are also in the new G-Class and they are carrying through the characteristic properties of the longest-lived model series from Mercedes-Benz into modern times: an iconic design, indestructible superiority off the beaten track and exceptional ride comfort on the road.”

It may be a stunt to promote a product release, but it’s certainly a memorable one. The resin block measures 18 feet long, 8.3 feet wide and over ten feet tall, and it took 90 days to create it layer by layer, with the block growing by about 1.1 inch in height every day.

Billboard-sized paint jobs on buildings that have seen better days give passersby a glimpse of how much fresher and brighter the structure could look with a little care – the ideal advertisement for paint company OBI. They may be promoting a product, but these miniature renovations get their message across by proving what the product can do rather than just plastering photos of it on ugly billboards.

The campaign by Hamburg-based agency Jung Von Matt came about as a result of price wars between independent stores in Germany, causing a sudden increase in unsightly billboards all over the country. OBI, the largest DIY store in Germany, asked “Why do people advertise products that are supposed to make our homes look nicer using adverts that make everything look uglier?”

It’s a refreshing twist on the usual public advertisement, using the old show-don’t-tell method. In some cases, just half a window is included in the re-paint, making it glaringly obvious how much newer and more cheerful the building would look if the whole thing received the same treatment.

These days, as we collectively develop blinders that make conventional ads in public spaces virtually invisible, marketers have to get a lot more creative to be noticed. Check out 300+ shocking, brilliant and unmissable ad campaigns that force us to sit up and pay attention.

Billboards are so ubiquitous in the modern world, many people barely even notice them anymore. So, some advertisers have gotten ultra-creative with their outdoor advertising, relying on eye-catching imagery and unusual proportions to grab the attention of the public. From shocking props like sliced pigeons to a billboard you can eat, these 15 clever advertising campaigns expand outside the box to interact with the world outside.

Pigeons vs. Razor

(image via: MasterCom)

German razor company Martor Solingen “demonstrated” the sharpness of their product with this clever billboard, strewing the ground around it with sliced-up rubber pigeons.

Paint Comes At You Fast

(image via: Ads of the World)

Nationwide insurance turned a fictional paint company’s billboard into a colorful, messy disaster in this unique ad, spilling a massive puddle of yellow paint down the side of a building and into a parking lot, even covering several vehicles.

Adidas World Cup

(image via:  Hungry for Ads)

Adidas was clearly very excited for the 2006 World Cup when they unveiled a series of billboard ads so attention-grabbing, they risked causing accidents. This particular billboard depicts a soccer player – or football player, if you’re outside the U.S. – stretching over a road like a mythological giant.

Bic Shaves the Grass

(image via: Arturo de Albornoz)

It must be tough to come up with a creative ad campaign for disposable razors – after all, how many times can you show a man’s smooth hairless face and still get people to notice? This billboard takes a different tack, with a giant razor seemingly giving a stretch of grass a nice close shave.

McDonald’s Billboard Sundial

(image via: dsgnwrld)

What time is it? Pancake-o’-clock, if you go by this incredibly creative billboard ‘sundial’, installed by fast food giant McDonalds in Chicago in 2006. The Leo Burnett ad agency commissioned for the project worked with an engineer to choose the best possible location to achieve the best effect, with an aluminum replica of the iconic golden arches casting its shadow over a certain menu item each hour.

Nike Treadmill for Charity

(image via: billboardom)

Nike encouraged passersby to stop and walk or run a while on an interactive, ground level billboard with a built-in treadmill, located in Mexico. For every kilometer run, Nike donated a certain amount of money to Unicef.

Penline Tape: Strong Enough to Support a Billboard

(image via: Ads of the World)

Penline must have felt pretty confident in their product to actually demonstrate it in a billboard. If the tape had failed, the ad would have been disastrous, but it worked well enough to win the ad a Cannes Lions 2007 Silver award.

Economist Light Bulb

(image via: adpunch)

Talk about a bright idea: this billboard by the Economist uses a motion sensor to detect people walking beneath it, and the light bulb illuminates at just the right moment.

Formula Toothcare: Builds Strong Teeth

(image via: Ads of the World)

Passersby aren’t likely to miss this unusual ad for Formula Toothcare. It would certainly take some extremely strong teeth to pull off this feat.

Heineken Hand

(image via: Creative Criminals)

What would be an extremely simple and perhaps boring billboard otherwise is transformed into something memorable by the addition of a three-dimensional hand reaching from behind in an attempt to grab the bottle of Heineken.

Nike Transparent Billboards

(image via: adland)

Is it a frame that you can walk through? A painting? A transparent billboard? It’s difficult to say from the images, therefore it’s difficult to interpret what Nike was going for with this strange series of ads. Hopefully it’s the former, because the other possibilities make it seem as if the company wants their customers to slam into a wall.

Cingular Drops Calls

(image via: maxvt)

Cingular turned consumers’ biggest complaint about cellular phone service into a gigantic Times Square advertisement featuring a cutout of the word ‘calls’ on the ground below the billboard.

World’s First Edible Chocolate Billboard

(image via: yumsugar)

The world’s first edible chocolate billboard didn’t last long. Thorntons, a British chocolate company, unveiled an 860-lb, 14.5ft – 9ft billboard made with 10 chocolate bunnies, 72 giant chocolate eggs and 128 chocolate panels in London in 2007. The billboard was consumed by shoppers within three hours of going up.

Chevy Aveo Coin Billboard

(image via: trendhunter)

Another consumable billboard that was destroyed by onlookers rather quickly is this penny creation, advertising the Chevrolet Aveo. The billboard featured a car made entirely from 20,000 one-pence coins which were picked off by passersby within 30 minutes.

Sony PSP Transparent Billboards

(image via: toxel)

Adventure is anywhere, these billboards seem to say – any ordinary place could be the setting for a range of exciting activities when you’ve got a Sony PSP. Unfortunately, these were not real Sony billboards but a clever concept created by an advertising student.