Food, travel, and lifestyle website Thrillist partnered with Club Getaway to hold its first-ever Camp Thrillist, a weekend camping experience for young professionals August 17-19 in Kent, Connecticut. Chef Matt Marotto of Cryo Cream created Glampfire Sundaes, a liquid nitrogen sundae consisting of graham cracker ice cream, toasted marshmallow, home-made graham crackers, Pop Rocks, and a chocolate syrup injector.
Juice and food brand Odwalla kicked off a nationwide VW van tour August 16 at the Park eatery and lounge in New York. The van, which was designed by IMG Live, pays homage to the brand’s origins of three musicians selling juices and smoothies from a VW van in Santa Cruz, California, in 1980. The brand partnered with numerous health and wellness, food, art, and style experts for the promotional tour, which will take place through October. Future tour stops include Seattle, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.
Japanese beer company Asahi Super Dry took over P.S. Kitchen in New York to hold its first-ever U.S. pop-up bar August 15-17. The branded bar, which was produced by BMF Media Group, featured a virtual-reality tour of the Japanese beer brewery. The V.R. experience also had a virtual tour of the night sky of Tokyo.
HBO held an interactive pop-up exhibit inspired by the network’s new late-night series, Random Acts of Flyness, August 16-18 at the 477 Broadway space in New York. The exhibit, which was produced by Team Epiphany, featured vignettes inspired by the themes and cultural idioms featured in the series, which explores patriarchy, white supremacy, and sensuality through a stream-of-conscience style. The “Black Women Won’t Save Us All?” room recognized black women who have made history by broadcasting names on a screen. Attendees were invited to write the name of a black woman who has inspired them on two walls that flanked the screen.
One vignette recreated the bedroom set featured in a scene from the first episode, meant to showcase a visual representation of nontraditional black love. The bed was a popular photo op for guests.
New Balance and Foot Locker partnered to promote the sneaker brand’s new X-90 Knit with a 1990s-theme pop-up at 939 Studio in Los Angeles from August 10 to 14. A colorful hallway was inspired by Nickelodeon’s Double Dare—complete with green slime and a giant nose that proved a popular spot for photo ops. The pop-up was produced by SPMDesign.
The New Balance shoe line was displayed throughout, including in the video store area—the black tape from an oversize VHS tape was used to hold the product. Signage played off the old "Be Kind, Rewind" slogan, instead saying "Be Kind, Rewind to the '90s"—the name of the pop-up.
HBO and Bumble partnered to transform the brownstone Sousa House NYC into an interactive movie-viewing experience August 15 and 16. The branded space featured installations including a bathtub filled with yellow candy, surrounded by rubber ducks and yellow balls inspired by emojis. The experience was produced by Mekanism and Giant Spoon.
Upon arrival, guests were assigned a film to watch after they took a short survey. At each film screening, servers handed guests cocktails inspired by that film. For Girls Trip, guests were given yellow cocktails in plastic daiquiri sip cups, inspired by cocktails that can be found on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, the setting of the 2017 comedy. Guests were also given branded headphones for the film.
The second edition of Play with Fire, an all-day outdoor cooking event hosted by James Beard award-winning chef Zak Pelaccio, took place August 11 at Pelaccio’s Fish & Game Farm in Hudson, New York. Hudson Valley sculptor Kris Perry created a variety of cast-iron and steel grilling apparatuses for the event, one of which held Negro Piattoni’s “pollo al Chandelier.”
The inaugural Destination San Diego music festival, which formed through a partnership between Adidas and Journeys, took place August 11 at Horton Plaza Park. A highlight of the festival was a living mural. Visitors could contribute to it throughout the day by pushing one of a series of buttons. Depending on the color selected, a new stripe of paint was added.
"I mean, who doesn't love balloons? These giant colorful trees (built by Founders Entertainment with balloon arrangements supplied by Katie Balloons) were sprouting up around the festival grounds at Governors Ball this year. Talk about instant photo bait! And such a clever way to reinvent what some may consider a tired design trope." —Michele Laufik, style editor
