If you were walking down a city street last month and happened to see a mysteriously projected, 72-inch moving image with sound on a random wall – or perhaps your shirt – don’t fret. It was likely the work of Vancouver-based The Media Merchants’ (TMM) Projection Ninjas and the guerrilla-style teams who wielded them.

The stealthy handheld, battery-powered projectors were provided by TMM to Burger King for its Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen promotional campaign, marking the first time ever the devices have been used for the purposes of advertising. Between June 24 and 29, teams of three hit the streets of Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, projecting moving images onto random objects and giving out Burger King coupons in high-traffic areas. Audio was also incorporated as the guerrilla teams carried speakers in the backpacks they used to house the batteries.

‘Our typical night projection services are portable and temporary, but sometimes we’re limited, we can only be on a certain wall,’ explains Brodie Gunning, partner and director, national properties and revenue programs at TMM. ‘But if [clients] want to be in front of this particular club, or they want to target this particular demographic, but there’s no vehicle access, how do we get there? This medium has allowed us to do that.’

The cost ranges between $1,000 and $1,400 per team of three per night. TMM has another Projection Ninjas campaigns lined up in October for an alcohol client.