FOOH: The Complete Guide to Fake Out Of Home Advertising

In an increasingly saturated digital landscape, brands must find bolder ways to capture people’s attention. One of the most innovative and discussed strategies of the past two years is FOOH, short for Fake Out Of Home: a type of advertising that blends real footage with CGI to create highly shareable content designed to trick the eye, amaze viewers, and go viral thanks to its powerful “wow effect.”

In this guide, you’ll discover what FOOH is, how it works, why it’s becoming essential in marketing strategies, and which case studies have set the standard.

What is FOOH?

Fake Out Of Home advertising is a technique that combines real locations, video footage (even shot with a smartphone), and photorealistic CGI elements to create the illusion that a giant, impossible object truly exists in the physical world. The effect is deliberately designed to sit “on the edge between reality and the impossible.”

FOOH aims to make viewers ask: “Is this real? Did this actually happen?” …and in that moment of disbelief, they share the content. See it for yourself here.

Why does FOOH work so well?

Why has FOOH exploded right now?

Three main factors have driven its rapid rise in recent years:

FOOH brings all these elements together into one immediate, dynamic, and storytelling-friendly format.

How a FOOH video is made: key steps

Creating a professional Fake Out Of Home video is not just about adding CGI to a clip. It requires a balanced mix of strategy, creativity, and technical execution. Here are the essential phases of producing an effective FOOH asset.

1. Creative Idea & Validation

Everything starts with a strong concept: an oversized object, an impossible action, or a surreal scene placed in a recognizable real-world location. The goal is to surprise viewers within the first seconds. Before moving forward, the idea must be validated from a:

2. Location Selection & Planning

The location is crucial in FOOH: it must suit the concept and integrate seamlessly with CGI. It’s also important to manage:

Many viral videos are filmed in iconic places: squares, train stations, skylines, busy streets. But excellent results can also come from simpler settings.

3. Video Shooting

During filming, it’s essential to maintain conditions that will allow smooth CGI integration later. Specifically:

Also consider the UI of platforms: for Instagram or TikTok FOOH videos, make sure important elements won’t be covered by like/comment/share buttons.

4. CGI & Compositing

This is where the transformation happens: the real product becomes a digital element perfectly integrated into the scene. This phase includes:

It’s essential to avoid overly complex animations that make the result look less credible or overly “AI-generated.” At Ophir Studio, we specialize in 3D product modeling—learn more on our product visualization service page.

5. Video Finalization

The final touches determine the overall quality. This step includes:

When everything is integrated properly, the video looks as if it were filmed live… even though it wasn’t.

Famous examples of FOOH

Below are some of the most iconic FOOH examples that helped turn the format into a global trend. To explore more, visit the most comprehensive curated FOOH library.

Maybelline New York

One of the most iconic FOOH cases comes from Maybelline: a giant mascara wand appears above a bus or subway train and actually moves, applying mascara to the vehicle’s surface as if it were a human eyelash. Read what the creative director of the campaign wrote on LinkedIn about using this format.

Havaianas & The North Face

The North Face and Havaianas used FOOH to reinterpret their outdoor identity through an urban lens.

Prada & Marc Jacobs

The Fake Out Of Home videos by Prada and Marc Jacobs show how premium and luxury brands are leveraging FOOH to amplify creativity, storytelling, and product desirability.

Why you should include FOOH in your content marketing strategy

Integrating FOOH into your content marketing can boost visibility, engagement, and brand positioning across social media. Here's why more and more companies are adopting this format.

1. Extremely high viral potential

FOOH content is designed to surprise and deliver a strong wow effect. This makes it highly shareable, perfect for generating organic reach, and ideal for viral campaigns on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. The result? Immediate brand visibility.

2. Lower costs compared to traditional OOH

Fake Out Of Home advertising eliminates the expenses associated with renting physical billboard spaces, producing real installations, and managing complex outdoor logistics. With CGI, you can simulate spectacular campaigns at a fraction of the cost.

3. Total creative freedom

FOOH allows you to create things that would be impossible in the real world, like oversized objects, products interacting with buildings or cities, and surreal scenes. It’s one of the few formats that combines storytelling, entertainment, and branding without creative limits.

4. Optimized for social performance

Born for social media, FOOH is vertical (9:16), short, and immediately impactful. Algorithms reward content that grabs attention in the first seconds. FOOH is built exactly for this.

5. Potential global reach

Unlike physical OOH advertising, which is tied to a specific location, Fake Out Of Home can reach users anywhere in the world and target new audiences without increasing budget. It’s perfect for large-scale awareness campaigns.

6. Competitive differentiation

Using FOOH helps brands stand out, communicate a modern and innovative identity, and position themselves as digital-first players. In a market filled with similar content, FOOH breaks the pattern.

FOOH for SMEs: is it really feasible?

FOOH advertising is far more accessible than most people think even for small and medium-sized businesses. Unlike traditional OOH campaigns, which require large budgets, physical installations, and big teams, Fake Out Of Home delivers spectacular impact (sometimes even more) at significantly lower costs. There’s no need for real billboards, installations, or complex logistics: all you need is a strong creative idea and the support of a studio specializing in CGI and compositing.

This combination of visual impact, flexibility, and reduced costs makes FOOH ideal not only for big brands, but also for SMEs, startups, and emerging businesses looking to stand out with memorable social content.

With the right technical partner, like Ophir Studio, even a small brand can produce a FOOH video capable of generating surprise and reaching a massive audience.

FAQ

What does FOOH mean?

FOOH stands for Fake Out Of Home, a form of digital advertising that uses CGI to create content resembling real outdoor installations, even though they exist only in video.

How is FOOH different from traditional OOH and DOOH?

OOH and DOOH rely on physical or digital spaces in the real world. FOOH, on the other hand, recreates similar situations entirely in CGI, enabling spectacular campaigns without physical installations and at much lower cost.

Which companies benefit most from FOOH campaigns?

FOOH works especially well for brands focused on creativity, strong visual impact, and social presence. The sectors that benefit most include: fashion & luxury, beauty & cosmetics, automotive, tech & electronics, food & beverage, retail, and lifestyle. It is less suitable for brands targeting very traditional audiences or industries with heavy regulations that require a more institutional tone.

How much does it cost to produce a FOOH video?

The production cost of a FOOH video depends on several factors, such as the complexity of the 3D model, the duration of the video, the chosen location, and the required level of photorealism.