As Facebook morphs into Meta, the company’s first commercial brings classic 2D painting to life

Following its makeover, Meta, previously called Facebook, released its first marketing campaign, expressing its metaverse concept.

It is the first campaign by Meta since it transitioned from Facebook, after two weeks only. Since then, people are wondering, “What exactly is metaverse?”

Meta’s ad, created by Meta’s internal creative firm Creative X in collaboration with Droga5, features a group of students touring a museum. They come to the picture “Fight Between a Tiger and a Buffalo” by Henri Rousseau. Soon, the 2D artwork evolves into life.

“This is the dimension of imagination,” says the painting’s tiger. The film ends with the tagline, “This is going to be fun,” as the kids dance to the music and engage themselves in the immersive experience of wildlife.

Meta’s social media channels and Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, promoted the ad. “Step into a world of imagination with Meta and the endless possibilities as 2D becomes 3D,” reads the description on Meta’s social media posts. Zuckerberg’s view of the metaverse’s prospects for Meta and its viewers is depicted in the clip.

https://www.facebook.com/Meta/videos/371497191427299/

What exactly is this strange new world?

Although there are a variety of theories and reasons, here goes the official announcement from the Meta website. “The metaverse is the next evolution of social connection. 3D spaces in the metaverse will let you socialize, learn, collaborate and play in ways that go beyond what we can imagine,” says Meta.

In a nutshell, the metaverse is the future era of social media, and it will be 3D rather than 2D like it is now.

Creators and agencies involved in the big campaign

Sonny Gerasimwics, the creator of the Wild Things in Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are,” worked on the ad alongside Grammy-nominated artist and filmmaker Andrew Thomas Huang. AI is used to process live-action animal puppets and link them to 3D CG surroundings to make stories.

Meta usually divides its creative work amongst many agencies. Ogilvy is the agency of record for Instagram. Wieden + Kennedy is the agency of record for Facebook itself. Leo Burnett is the AOR for Messenger. According to Campaign US, BBDO handles creative for WhatsApp, and Droga5 is the agency of record for the corporate brand.

Meta granted its $750 million global media business to Spark Foundry.

The campaign is taking place on Facebook and television in the United States around December 5.