“Peeing on this ad may change your life,” reads the text at the top of a new IKEA advertisement in a women’s magazine. That text alone, devoid of context, might understandably make you question whether the Swedish retail giant has gone a little too far in the hope of grabbing the attention of a fickle public, but take in the rest of the page, and it starts to make a little bit more sense. But just a little bit, because they’re still asking you to tote a pee-soaked piece of paper around.

Centered on the page is a photo of a crib. In small text, just above it, reads “This ad is also a pregnancy test. Pee on the marked area and wait a moment. If you are expecting, you will get a surprise right here in the ad.”

Down yonder is the rectangle in which you are expected to deposit your urine – carefully, one would hope, perhaps with a syringe, though most people will likely just hold the whole page inside the toilet. Which raises the question of whether IKEA considered the fact that they’re asking customers to bring this paper into stores and hand them to employees in exchange for 50% off a crib.

Genius idea from Ikea – Ad doubles as a pregnancy test. If you’re pregnant, peeing on the ad reveals a special discounted price on cots. pic.twitter.com/kWuJfOwpIX

— Andrew Bloch (@AndrewBloch) January 10, 2018

Skeptical? It’s real. Swedish ad agency Åkestam Holst created the ad in collaboration with Mercene Labs, and a video at Adweek shows how it works. Here’s what the agency has to say about it:

“In order to make the interactive functions of this ad work in reality, we had to make several technical advancements. The pregnancy test strip was used as a starting point, which relies on antibodies that bind to the pregnancy hormone hCG, resulting in a color change. For scaling up of this technique and adopting it to the physical format of a printed ad, Mercene Labs has used their experience in development of surface active materials for microfluidics and medical diagnostics. Careful selection of materials, together with a controlled capillary flow have been crucial for the success of this project. Technical advancements made during the work with this campaign have the potential to improve medical diagnostics.”

In any case, you can’t deny that the ad made a splash.

What’s behind the giant Oreo-shaped vault door mounted to a bright blue garage in midtown Manhattan? Curious passersby who decide to approach and find out for themselves will have the most authentic and rewarding answer to that question, but the rest of us can live vicariously through photos and video of this clever interactive ad installation promoting the cookie brand’s new flavor.

Once you open that portal-like door, a sign greets you with this message: ‘Welcome to the Oreo Wonder Vault – Pull the lever to begin.’ Follow the directions and a box of free cookies will come sliding down a conveyer belt, delivered directly to you via slide. This time, it’s ‘Filled Cupcake’ flavor.

Oreo tells Ad Week that as many as 50 prototype flavors and over 100 additional ideas can be in the Wonder Vault at any time, and it can take up to 18 months to perfect each one before it’s ready for release. “The limited edition process never stops; we have lot of flavor ideas just waiting to make their way to the world.”

The fun installation is located somewhere near 18th street between 7th and 8th Avenues, and appears to have already delivered all the free cookies it had to offer. The new flavor will be in stores on February 8th.

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.

It’s not every day that you come across an absolutely stunning and somewhat disturbing series of photos entitled “Golden Pig and Bitches”. But you never know what you’re going to get from Romanian art collective Carioca Studio, a group of professionals that produce astoundingly creative and well-crafted ads, campaigns and projects.

Carioca’s work may range from fun and goofy to dark and bizarre, but it’s always fresh, unexpected and unflinching, which is exactly what makes their ads so effective – it’s hard to turn away from the issue of child slavery when photos of children chained up like animals are staring you in the face.

Every single image in Carioca’s portfolio, from energetic and colorful campaigns for companies like Pepsi and Twix to their looser, more artistic personal projects, is incredibly visually striking. It’s hard to say whether every detail is carefully thought out or some kind of magic simply occurs in the studio, but all of these images are the result of a concerted group effort.

“Carioca is a photo production house,” an anonymous member of Carioca told WebUrbanist in 2009. “We have production, photo, postproduction, and CGI departments. We have here 3 in-house photographers (which are also the partners in Carioca, together with a production guy). We use to sign the works as Carioca (because indeed every visual is a collective work) and we like it to be that way.”

While spending 30 seconds on an escalator, where do you look? Most people just stare straight ahead – making escalators an ideal location for advertising. But some ads are more colorful, clever and controversial than others, using both the ideal eye-level platform and shape of the stairs to their full potential. These are the kinds of ads that make people pause and marvel for a moment before continuing on their way.

Canadian Red Cross Escalator Ad

(image via: allbusiness)

From the top of the stairs, this ad looks so realistic that it could prompt people to rush down so quickly they injure themselves – completely undermining the purpose of the campaign. Created for the Canadian Red Cross, the decal intends to promote the knowledge of first aid with a message reading “Know What to Do.”

DHL Gridlock Escalator Ad

(image via: adoholik)

Hong Kong traffic is notoriously nightmarish. But even the gridlocks of this city can’t stop DHL, or so they insinuate with this escalator ad which depicts their trucks speeding down a convenient (though imaginary) fast lane, located on the moving handrail, as the rest of the cars remain at a maddening halt.

IKEA Staircase Ad

(image via: directdaily)

IKEA is practically synonymous with “organization”, something nearly everyone could use a little help with. That makes these stair stickers that much more effective, depicting neatly stacked clothing and linens in drawers.

Hopi Hari Escalator Ad

(image via: adland)

When people momentarily forget they’re on an escalator, imagining themselves having a great time at an amusement park instead, you know that an ad is special. This one for a Brazil amusement park called Hopi Hari turns each step into a snapshot of a couple enjoying a roller coaster.

Nationwide Staircase Ad

(image via: ads of the world)

Bad things happen every day… like bizarre automobile accidents that send your car flying in the air like the General Lee, if this Nationwide Insurance staircase ad is to be believed. It certainly takes full advantage of the huge set of stairs at the end of Fashion Show Drive in Las Vegas.

Revita Beauty Center Shiatzu Escalator Ad

(image via: adland)

When possible, it’s best to avoid stepping on people – unless you’re a professional masseuse. While this ad may make some people uncomfortable, others may be reminded of just how good it would feel to let someone work out the knots in their backs.

Table Soccer Staircase Ad

(image via: ads of the world)

An outdoor guerilla ad campaign to promote the first international table soccer world cup featured realistic-looking flyers shaped like table soccer figures on stair handrails around the city of Hamburg, Germany.

Consol Energy Coal Mine Escalator Ad

(image via: ads of the world)

Consol Energy reminds people of what it takes to power our world with coal – descending into deep, dark, dirty mines – with an ad bound to make environmentalists cringe.

Coca-Cola Escalator & Staircase Ad

(image via: ads of the world)

Coca-Cola engaged in some targeted marketing in a joint campaign with McDonalds. Regular, full-calorie Coke was advertised to people who take the stairs, while the people getting less activity by taking the escalator see ads for Diet Coke instead.

Jeep Parking Space Ad

(image via: toxel)

Capitalizing on the Jeep’s reputation as a vehicle that can go places other cars can’t, these guerrilla-style ads create parking spots in the most unlikely places – like stairs. No word on whether Jeep owners that took the ads up on their offer got reimbursed for pricey parking tickets.

Gillette Venus Escalator Ad

(image via: ads of the world)

Who was the advertiser that looked at the side of an escalator and thought, ‘hmmm, that looks like a leg’? Someone had to have made that questionable connection to come up with this eye-catching ad by Gillette, which featured small decals of razors on the handrail.

Greenville Literary Association Staircase Ad

(image via: toxel)

It’s not hard to grasp how book lovers at the Greenville Literary Association came to see a stack of books in a flight of stairs. This ad, created to generate book donations, takes full advantage of the shape of the advertiser’s chosen medium.

Juice Salon Escalator Ad

(image via: adland)

How many different haircuts can one man possibly get? This creative example of escalator advertising attempts to answer that question, putting a different style on every step, each of which briefly join with the man’s face at the bottom of the escalator to demonstrate the effect.

South Carolina Time to Thaw Stairs Ad

(image via: bounce agency)

The same agency that came up with the creative Greenville Literary Association book stairs also turned a set of stairs into stacks of suitcases, inspiring passersby to “pack your bags: it’s time to thaw.” The ad encourages travel to South Carolina.

Pizza Kingdom Escalator Ad

(image via: ads of the world)

Is the sight of a pizza lying on a dirty escalator, stepped on by thousands of pairs of feet, really all that appetizing? A chain called Pizza Kingdom hoped that it would be with this strange ad, designed to demonstrate “extra cheese” stretching from step to step. Amazingly, it worked: revenue increased by 53% within a month.