Animal Instinct Advertising
Ghosts of Pirate Cove
One of the first events we created for the Newport Aquarium was a Halloween event called “Ghosts of Pirate Cove.” The pirate theme not only capitalized on the popularity of pirates it allowed us to reinforce the brand by staging it in the shark tank behind the aquarium glass in the Pirate Theater. From idea to execution, we orchestrated all of the elements while working closely with the Aquarium’s marketing, guest services, husbandry and engineering departments.
We created a story about Captain Dubloon and his crew of pirates that depicted how his ship sank to the bottom of the sea and turned them all into ghosts. It was a moralistic tale for kids that set up a treasure hunt throughout the aquarium for kids to set the Ghosts free by collecting treasures. We conceived and oversaw the construction of a pirate ship hull that was sunken in the shark tank.
We re-cut the theater’s existing short film with a new voice-over and visuals to set up the story. The film was shown on a moveable screen in the Pirate Theater. When the screen rose at the end of the film, the shark tank and pirate ship were revealed to pay off the film’s ending.
We recruited and rehearsed an actor to play Captain Dubloon. The swashbuckling Captain entered the theater at the end of the film and interacted with the audience while completing the story and sending them on their treasure hunt to save his crew of pirate ghosts. He also became a spokesperson for the event in media interviews and guest appearances throughout the city.
Pirates of the Caribbean make-up artist
Ken Neiderbaumer demonstrates
his technique on Greg.
We themed-out the entire Aquarium in pirate props and “ghost” pirates floating from the ceiling. We hung a billowing pirate ship’s sail from the ceiling in the lobby and the Ghosts of Pirate Cove logo was projected against it to create a “wow” factor for guests entering the Aquarium. We created a pirate soundtrack featuring swashbuckling pirates and funny clips culled from pirate movies played throughout the Aquarium as well.
Each year a new component is added to the event to keep it fresh. For instance, we brought in Hollywood make-up artist Ken Neiderbaumer off the set of the latest Pirate’s of the Caribbean movie to give kids demonstrations on pirate make-up.
Click here to view a print ad for the event.