Amazing Natural Ads Printed in Sand, Snow, and Grass

More often than not, advertising campaigns are wasteful endeavors that leave our urban environment plastered with billboards and banners, but the UK startup <a href="http://www.curbmedia.com">Curb Media</a> hits all the right notes with their innovative and sustainable ad installations. Curb Media is not a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising_agency">design agency</a> -- instead the group specializes in the production of eco-friendly advertising mediums. Using completely natural materials, they have developed communication methods that will turn heads with an ultra-low <a href="http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html">carbon footprint</a>. If you have never heard of terms like <a href="http://www.curbmedia.com/what-we-do-sea.asp">sea tagging</a>, <a href="http://www.curbmedia.com/what-we-do-logrow.asp">logrow</a>, or <a href="http://www.curbmedia.com/what-we-do-rake.asp">rake ads</a>, take a look after the jump to see some of these incredible installations.

Rake Ads create imagery on beachfront sand. A team of 13 Curb Media creatives installed one of the largest Rake Ads for <a href="http://uktv.co.uk/">UKTV Gold's Satellite channel</a>. It measured 206 ft by 113 ft, and took top beach art experts seven hours to complete.

If you live in an urban area, you may have noticed a rise in <a href="http://inhabitat.com/2007/01/11/reverse-graffiti/">sidewalk advertising</a> in the past few years. Instead of using spray paint, Curb Media uses "<a href="http://www.curbmedia.com/what-we-do-clean.asp">Clean Advertising</a>" to mark the pavement.

Curb has other low impact ways for marking the street, such as sea tagging. Using salt water, which evaporates slower than potable water, they can create temporary impressions. The resulting ads draw a crowd due to their innovative application and then disappear without a trace.

Curb Media's exerts can develop Field Advertisements, using natural materials like stone, chalk, sand and mud to create <a href="http://inhabitat.com/2010/10/08/new-mini-cooper-advertisement-cut-into-massive-cornfield/">enormous adverts</a>. Other forms of these oversized adverts include Crop Circles and Mow Ads, where plants or grass is cleared to create duo-tone images from a bird's-eye view.

Snow tagging uses stamps to leave<a href="http://inhabitat.com/2010/03/29/element-sixs-ethereal-ads-are-printed-right-into-the-snow/"> impressions in freshly laid flakes</a>.

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One painstaking piece that really grabbed our attention was this image created on wood of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/2010/09/29/obama-not-happy-with-us-climate-policy-promises-more-reform/">President Obama</a>. As an example of what their artisans can create, the team made this very large graphic using only a sheet of wood and a magnifying glass!

The stunning work took 85 hours to complete, but the effort paid off. Curb Media told Inhabitat that the senate says this piece is hanging in the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/2010/10/05/obama-to-install-solar-panels-on-the-white-house-this-spring/">White House</a>. That is what we call some fantastic <em>exposure</em>!

This Adidas ad is grown from grass!

Using special equipment, dirt is selectively removed from the high traffic area, which creates a stark contrast to the soiled surface.

An amazing sand sculpture installation by Curb Media

Rake Ads take the same larger-than-life methodology to creating imagery on beachfront sand. A team of 13 Curb Media creatives installed one of the largest Rake Ads for UKTV Gold's Satellite channel. It measured 206 ft by 113 ft, and took top beach art experts seven hours to complete.

A grassy message grown on a wall by Curb Media

Curb Media has some of the most inventive natural advertising methods we have seen.

Curb Media's DesignGrass installation for 10:10 is a 100% real grass logo that will never need watering or trimming. It is one of the worlds first no-maintenance indoor greenery solutions.