This week's roundup includes a sushi dessert course in Toronto, YouTube's rustic activation at the Sundance Film Festival, a trade show booth inspired by the celestial heavens in Geneva, and a look inside splashy Super Bowl parties for Playboy, ESPN, and more.
The decor for DirecTV's Saturday-night Super Bowl party was inspired by the gritty beginnings of New York City—with dance platforms made of thick wood beams and scrap metal—mixed with today's glamour, evoked by gold chandeliers and fabrics of sequins, fur, and leather. Combining fashion with the city's icons, models wore costumes made from New York Times newsprint.
An ice bar from Okamoto Ice promoted the History Channel show Vikings. It was one of several sponsor activations at Playboy's Super Bowl party, which took place at the temporary Bud Light Hotel in New York. The Visionary Group produced the event with the magazine's event team.
ESPN marked its 10th annual Super Bowl party with a blowout last Friday at Pier 36. A Coors Light booth had characters from the beer brand's commercials, who sported a silicone-based "frosting" on their faces to mimic an outdoor expedition in the snow. Throughout the night, they posed with guests and drew them to the Coors Light stand.
On January 28, Animal Planet brought live dogs, interactive games, and tailgate-style fare to two floors of Discovery Times Square Exposition. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Puppy Bowl, the cute event had a mini locker room with puppy-size jerseys at its entrance.
On January 23, the Walrus Foundation hosted its annual gala at the Fermenting Cellar in Toronto. In keeping with the literary theme, tabletop decor included books created by Toronto artist Kalpna Patel. The books had pages that were artfully folded and glued together.
The black-and-white color scheme carried over into decor elements such as festive cocktail straws. The evening's signature drink was called "the Diviner," named after a novel by Margaret Laurence.
Van Cleef & Arpels channeled the celestial heavens for its booth at the luxury Swiss trade show. Guests entered through mythical gates and into the world of poetic astronomy, transported into the Maison's sources of inspiration: the planets and the constellations.
Cartier had a vast display space that allowed it to create multiple vignettes to present its designs—both archival and current. With dozens of timepiece and jewelry creations on display, the section was more like a museum than a straightforward showcase. The fully carpeted venue also boasted a small army of staffers and greeters on hand, as well as multiple lounge spaces.
The Big Give charity event took place at Toronto's new Ripley's Aquarium on January 23. Debra Novack, president of LOL Candy, brought in desserts that would match with the “Under the Sea” theme. The dessert station included “sweet sushi” (or, candy in the shape of sushi) that rested on miniature ships.
This year marked the first time that YouTube had a major activation on festival grounds. From January 16 to 25, the company's two-story pop-up space was at 596 Main Street and had an illuminated YouTube logo out front. The activation was meant to feel like a rustic artist's lodge in the mountains.
