A billboard that never shows exactly the same creativity. That is the proposal with which Asahi Super Dry has put artificial intelligence at the heart of its new campaign, using technology to expand the creative capacity of the artist.
Under the name “The Infinite Can”, the beer brand has taken over the iconic screens of Piccadilly Lights in London for a week with a piece that shows more than 400 different designs inspired by the work of Japanese artist Hisham Akira Bharoocha. The initiative, developed by Havas London and Prose on Pixels, is part of the global brand platform “Seek What Is Unique”, with which Asahi invites people to discover new experiences through creativity and Japanese culture.
The differentiating element of the campaign lies in the way in which artificial intelligence has been used. Instead of training the system to replicate Bharoocha’s visual style, the creative team developed its own tool, called Asahi Fusion Designer, built into the Vermeer.ai generative AI platform, with the goal of understanding his creative process.
The system was fed exclusively with the work, references, working method and influences of the artist to identify patterns, emotions and connections present in his visual universe. From this analysis, it generated more than 400 original compositions, all of them inspired by Japan and adapted to Asahi’s graphic identity.
Throughout the process, Bharoocha maintained an active role. He selected the training material, supervised the evolution of the proposals and was the one who decided which images truly represented his work and which did not.
“We didn’t ask the AI to copy Hisham. We asked it to understand him and show him something he had never seen about himself”explains Lorenzo Fruzza, Chief Design Officer of Havas London. “It’s not a copy or a pastiche. It’s an artist meeting a version of himself he’s never met.”
From outdoor advertising to packaging
The campaign is not limited to outdoor advertising. The creative universe developed together with the artist also shapes a limited edition of cans and bottles that will reach one million containers of Asahi Super Dry and Asahi Super Dry 0.0% distributed in the United Kingdom. These pieces are part of the “Seek, Find & Win” promotion, through which consumers who find one of the special designs will be eligible for trips to Tokyo, the brand’s city of origin, in addition to other prizes.
The activation will also be present in bars and hospitality establishments, where customers will be able to find prize tokens to get merchandise, gift cards or new experiences linked to the brand. All of this will be accompanied by materials at the point of sale, digital content and special actions until the end of September.
The campaign also reinforces the positioning of Asahi Super Dry, which finds a parallel between the personal trajectory of Bharoocha – born in Japan and based in New York – and the international identity of the brand. His work mixes Eastern and Western influences, a hybrid look that artificial intelligence has translated into a set of visual pieces where art, design and technology converge.
“As a mixed-race Japanese and Burmese person who grew up between Japan and North America, my work has always been influenced by both cultures”explains the artist. “Seeing that look transferred to the iconic Asahi can reminds me that culture is constantly transforming.”
