Discover the Swedish DOOH campaign replacing a baby’s face with a loading icon to powerfully portray Alzheimer’s memory loss. A moving outdoor ad by Kid agency.
When Memory Fades, Even Faces Disappear
Why is a baby’s face replaced with a spinning loading icon on a billboard? This isn’t a tech glitch—it’s a deeply moving DOOH campaign created by Stockholm-based agency Kid for the Swedish Alzheimer Foundation (Alzheimerfonden). The campaign transforms a familiar symbol of digital delay—the loading wheel—into a powerful metaphor for memory loss caused by Alzheimer’s.
A Portrait That Never Fully Loads
On digital billboards and screens, what appears to be a family portrait remains eerily incomplete. Instead of a recognizable baby face, viewers see the classic spinning icon we associate with buffering. This design choice is intentional: it visually captures the emotional and cognitive disconnection people with Alzheimer’s face when they can no longer recognize even their closest loved ones.
From Annoyance to Awareness
“We’re used to seeing the spinning wheel as a sign of frustration or delay,” the agency explained in an Instagram post. “But in this campaign, it stands for something far more severe: the mental freeze when the brain no longer recognizes those closest to us.”
The campaign’s strength lies in its simplicity. There’s no dramatic copy, no flashy design—just an unfinished face lost behind a universal digital icon. That restraint delivers a punch of empathy, making passersby stop and reflect.
Raising Awareness in Sweden and Beyond
According to the Swedish Alzheimer Foundation, over 160,000 people in Sweden are living with dementia, and that number may double by 2050. The campaign is being broadcast not only through digital billboards, but also across social media and television to drive both national awareness and emotional impact.
Alzheimer’s in the Digital Age
The initiative joins a growing number of tech-driven approaches to Alzheimer’s awareness and detection, including Samsung’s AI-powered video game, The Mind Guardian. As digital tools become more ingrained in our lives, so too do their metaphors—like this spinning icon—gain new and deeper meaning in public discourse.
Final Thoughts
Outdoor advertising continues to evolve into a medium that’s not just for selling products—but also for telling important, emotional stories. This DOOH campaign in Sweden is a brilliant example of how visual simplicity and symbolism can strike at the heart of a complex issue like dementia.
