A new exhibit coming to Canada’s national science museum has revealed distinctive branding to get the word out about its upcoming debut in Ottawa.

Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation is getting ready to introduce “Oh Crap! Rethinking Human Waste,” an exhibit at the Canada Science and Technology Museum that challenges the public to rethink the role of human waste in their lives. It explores how human waste is being reused as a sustainable resource, how different parts of the world deal with waste management, how the toilet has evolved, and more.

Working with its AOR, Banfield, the museum has invested significantly more than usual in the marketing behind this latest campaign, creating a series of OOH and digital ads to promote the exhibit, that highlights some of the surprising information about feces, while treating it like an innovative new product.

Promotional video and TV ads see museum-goers asked a series of questions on the topic, like what materials are some artists using to make new kinds of art, what are engineers using to make houses, or what renewable energy can be used to make some cars run. The answer in each case, to the museum visitors’ surprise, is crap, and the videos are meant to highlight the surprise that exhibit visitors typically feel when they visit it.

Early focus testing was vital to the museum’s marketing, says Olivier Carré-Delisle, vice president of digital, public affairs and commercial operations at Ingenium. The focus testing was used to find a strong English name for the exhibit, and to test how receptive audiences would be to the bold exhibit that will naturally be a turn-off for some. It was also important, Carré-Delisle says, to ensure people understood and responded positively to what the exhibit’s angles and themes would be.

The scope of the new campaign is much bigger than the museum’s past efforts, Carré-Delisle says, when it comes to its mix of owned and paid media. The museum took a calculated risk to take on a bigger budget than usual for the exhibit’s marketing, he says, because of the exhibit’s success in Quebec, and the novelty of the topic, which Carré-Delisle expects could also lead to more earned media.

In developing the campaign with Banfield, Carré-Delisle says the museum wanted something clever and thought-provoking that didn’t lean too heavily on humour, while strongly representing the scientific benefits of the exhibit. 

“This is not an exhibit that is meant to be sensational, and it’s not meant to be one of those exhibits where we’re just trying to bring in people because the content is salacious,” Carré-Delisle says. 

“We really wanted people to see there’s a true, important underlying message and theme that you’re going to see. The exhibit touches on science and microbiology, it talks about culture, history and medicine. We wanted to make sure that the poster evoked that, finding a nice balance between the scientific lens you’re going to experience, and at the same time being somewhat tastefully playful.”

The traveling exhibit is arriving in Ottawa after it was curated and developed at the Musée de la civilisation in Quebec City. It runs at Ingenium from May 10 to Jan. 5, 2025. 

The media strategy behind the exhibit’s campaign was overseen by Jungle Media. The campaign is supported by TV spots, as well as online digital banner ads, digital OOH and billboards, social media ads, and online video. The OOH and TV campaign components are running locally in Ottawa, with digital executions extending to Toronto and Montreal.

Ingenium also launched an “Oh Crap!” app that sets up a scavenger hunt for users through downtown Ottawa. Taking users on a short walking tour, it offers educational info about human waste with some augmented reality components, while also including a contest to win tickets to the exhibit.