Unilever brand turns OOH into play spaces for kids in Türkiye

Unilever’s ‘Dirt Is Good’ brand is taking a bold step forward in encouraging kids to get off their screens and step outside to play with its innovative 'Out of Home' (OOH) campaign in Türkiye. This groundbreaking initiative reimagines traditional advertising spaces as interactive play zones, challenging the growing trend of indoor, screen-focused activities. The campaign underscores the importance of outdoor play and sports, emphasizing their role in helping children grow, build resilience, and explore the world around them. By transforming urban billboards into playful, engaging spaces, ‘Dirt Is Good’ is not just promoting outdoor activities but also fostering creativity, community, and physical activity.

Transforming Urban Advertising into Play Zones

The heart of the ‘Out of Home’ campaign is a series of large-scale activations across Istanbul. These activations aim to inspire children to rediscover the joys of outdoor play and sports, while also reminding parents and communities about the value of physical engagement.

One of the most exciting installations features a towering slide incorporated into a billboard structure. This installation turns an everyday outdoor advertising space into an exhilarating play area for children. It’s a playful and daring design that adds an element of adventure to the urban landscape, allowing kids to experience the thrill of sliding down a massive, fun structure right in the heart of the city. Another billboard has been transformed into a football goal, embedded into a wall-mounted structure. This creative installation encourages children to engage in friendly competitions, fostering teamwork and active play. The third activation is a basketball court creatively designed within a billboard space, where children are invited to come together, organize pickup games, and shoot hoops. These installations invite kids to step outside, physically engage with their environment, and immerse themselves in active play.

A Call for Reconnecting with the Outdoors

Alper Çapar, Unilever’s Head of Home Care Marketing for Türkiye, shared the motivation behind this transformative campaign: "At OMO, we believe that every child deserves the opportunity and inspiration to explore and learn through play – it’s a vital part of learning and development. By transforming our most populous city’s billboards into interactive play zones, we're creating new opportunities for children to engage and explore, reminding everyone of the importance of outdoor play.”

OMO, part of Unilever’s wider mission, has long advocated for the positive impact of outdoor play in children’s lives. The goal of this campaign is to shift the cultural focus back to physical activity and play in the real world, counteracting the trend of children becoming more sedentary and screen-dependent. By integrating play directly into the city’s fabric, the campaign seeks to bridge the gap between technology and physical activity, encouraging a balance between screen time and outdoor play.

Addressing the Decline in Outdoor Play

In recent decades, children’s outdoor playtime has been on the decline worldwide. The rise of digital entertainment, video games, and smartphones has drastically reduced the amount of time children spend outdoors, and studies show that outdoor play has decreased by 50% in just one generation. This decrease in outdoor play has a profound effect on children’s physical health, mental well-being, and social development. The loss of this essential activity is a cause for concern among experts, as it plays a vital role in building physical fitness, emotional resilience, and social skills.

The ‘Dirt Is Good’ campaign is Unilever’s response to this alarming trend. By taking over advertising spaces—traditionally seen as static, commercial environments—and transforming them into dynamic play zones, the campaign aims to provide children with new opportunities to engage in physical activities. This serves as a reminder to parents and children alike about the joy and benefits of outdoor play, whether it’s the thrill of a slide, the competition of a soccer match, or the teamwork involved in a basketball game. In a way, this campaign challenges the conventional use of billboards and invites people to rethink how urban spaces can serve communities in meaningful, playful ways.

Reigniting the Joy of Play Outdoors

Tati Lindenberg, Chief Brand Officer of Dirt Is Good and Senior Vice President of Unilever Fabric Cleaning, further explained the campaign’s vision: "At Dirt Is Good, we’ve always believed in the power of outdoor play and sport for people to dream, dare, learn, and grow. But today, rapid urbanization and the prevalence of technology have left children and parents spending more time inside on screens than outdoors getting dirty. With our ‘Out of Home’ campaign in Istanbul, we’re reimagining open spaces to bring joy back to the outdoors and remind families that every messy moment is worth embracing."

The concept of "getting dirty" has long been a part of the Dirt Is Good brand, symbolizing the freedom, adventure, and growth that comes with outdoor exploration. By embracing dirt, mess, and play, children are not only engaging in physical activity but also developing important life skills, such as problem-solving, resilience, and creativity. This campaign serves as a reminder that outdoor play is not just beneficial—it’s essential. Through play, children learn to navigate challenges, bond with peers, and build the physical and emotional strength they need for future success.

A Campaign with Lasting Impact

While the immediate impact of the campaign is clear, the broader message extends beyond the campaign’s duration. By turning billboards into play spaces, Unilever is not only creating moments of joy for children in the moment but is also sparking an ongoing conversation about the importance of outdoor play. In a world increasingly dominated by screens, this campaign provides a refreshing and necessary reminder of the simple pleasures of running, climbing, and playing outside. It also emphasizes how urban environments can be designed to serve the needs of communities, offering spaces for social connection, physical activity, and fun.

Unilever’s ‘Out of Home’ campaign is a powerful example of how brands can use outdoor advertising not just as a tool for promotion, but as a platform for social change. By rethinking how billboards can be used in the urban landscape, the campaign is helping to inspire a new generation of children to get outside, get active, and get dirty.

Through these playful and interactive installations, ‘Dirt Is Good’ is reimagining how we engage with public spaces and highlighting the crucial role outdoor play has in shaping healthy, resilient, and confident children. By turning everyday billboards into spaces of joy and learning, Unilever is helping to reshape the future of outdoor play—one billboard at a time.