Salvador Dalí and advertising: imagining with purpose

Salvador Dalí occupies a distinctive place in that conversation between art and commercial communication. His visual associations invite us to take another look at objects that seemed familiar. In advertising, that possibility raises a specific question: what happens when we change the way we represent a benefit, without losing sight of what we want to communicate?

The interest his work holds for a creative team goes beyond a recognizable aesthetic. It allows us to think about scale, relationships between objects and scenes that follow a logic different from everyday life. At GX Live Marketing, we propose exploring those possibilities as tools for reflection. Documented history and creative interpretation serve different purposes: the former establishes what happened; the latter helps formulate new questions for a brand.

Salvador Dalí and advertising: a concrete connection

Identity design offers a verifiable starting point. The official history of Chupa Chups dates Dalí's involvement to 1969: the artist drew on a newspaper what would become the basis of the brand's logo. This case allows us to discuss a direct relationship between an artist and a company, with a defined commercial purpose.

Precision matters. A documented collaboration allows us to analyze the brief, the medium and the relationship between artist and brand. A campaign that visually recalls a painting raises a different conversation. Resemblance is not enough to attribute a collaboration, establish a direct influence or assert that the artist approved an application of their visual language.

The Chupa Chups case also broadens how we look at creative work. An artist can participate in an identity intended to circulate on everyday objects. That application requires consideration of recognition, reproduction and coexistence with other product elements. For a marketing team, the lesson lies in connecting visual expression with how the piece will actually be used.

Surprise needs a central idea

Imagination is more useful when it responds to a clear question. Before proposing an impossible scene, it helps to define what we want someone to understand: the lightness of an object, the ease of a service, the flexibility of a solution or the feeling associated with an experience. That definition helps us choose what to transform visually.

Consider a hypothetical example: a brand wants to communicate that its product fits into small spaces. The team could imagine a room folding around the object. The scene would be an original creation, connected to a specific benefit. Its value would depend on the audience understanding that relationship, rather than solely on how striking the execution is.

The review question is simple: what remains when the surprise fades? If the answer amounts to a strange image, the concept may need more work. If the viewer can identify an idea related to the product, the proposal has a foundation for further development and testing.

Changing relationships between objects

One way to explore the unexpected is to modify an everyday relationship. We can alter an element's scale, material, location or behavior. It helps to change one variable with intention, so the viewer can find a way into the scene and recognize the contrast.

Imagine a fictional luggage campaign in which a suitcase contains a small landscape. The image could suggest what someone hopes for on their next trip. The concept would need further decisions: which landscape, for which audience, at what point in the buying journey and with what message. Each answer makes the idea more specific and prevents it from remaining a decorative device.

Consistency between image and text makes interpretation easier. A headline can guide interpretation without explaining every detail. If both components repeat exactly the same thing, some of their relationship is wasted. If they tell incompatible stories, the audience will have to solve a problem they probably have no interest in solving.

From a visual piece to an experience

Unexpected associations can also be explored in a physical space. An entrance, an object with an altered scale or a route through a space can create a situation that invites participation. In experience design, the concept needs to translate into an understandable interaction, with a recognizable beginning and ending.

Visitors need to understand what they can do. An installation can surprise through its form, but it also needs signage, access and a suitable way to participate. If someone is unsure where to enter, what to touch or how long to stay, part of the experience is spent trying to decipher how it works.

Consider a hypothetical activation about rest. A space could play with proportions and perspectives to represent how our perception of time changes when we take a break. The brand would need to define the role of its product, the action proposed to visitors and how to avoid promising benefits it cannot demonstrate.

Production completes the concept. Materials, lighting, safety, accessibility and maintenance affect what the audience experiences. A visual idea that works in a presentation may need significant changes when taken to a venue, a trade fair or an outdoor activity. Reviewing those conditions from the start allows creativity to develop with execution in mind.

A distinct identity and cultural references

Observing a work can help us recognize a visual operation: moving an object, bringing unexpected elements together or questioning scale. The next step is to build a proposal of your own, connected to the brand's history and needs. Repeating an artist's identifiable symbols can shift attention toward the reference and weaken the identity you are trying to develop.

It also helps to separate cultural analysis from the use of materials. Reproducing a painting, incorporating a photograph of it or using a portrait of the artist requires reviewing specific rights and conditions. Credit identifies a source; permission establishes an authorized use. An adequate review considers both issues and the media in which the campaign will circulate.

Visual identity develops through consistent decisions. A brand can choose a particular way of framing, a relationship between colors or a tone of communication without always turning to the same spectacular device. Continuity helps its proposals become recognizable as part of the same conversation.

How to evaluate an imaginative proposal

A concept can be reviewed before producing the full campaign. A comprehension test allows you to ask what someone interprets, what benefit they identify and which brand they attribute the message to. It helps to listen to their words first, without explaining the team's intention or offering answers that steer the conversation.

Evaluation should match the objective. If the piece seeks recognition, it is useful to observe whether the brand is identified. If it seeks to explain a service, comprehension matters. If it invites people to an activity, you need to check whether the proposed action is clear. Attention and comprehension deserve separate measurements, because an image can attract looks without conveying what was intended.

To work through these decisions with your team, start with a question: which idea about your brand deserves to be seen differently? From there, develop alternatives, review their implications and choose a proposal you can execute and evaluate. Imagination gains depth when it engages with a specific purpose.

If you want to develop a proposal for your brand, talk to GX Live Marketing.

Explore more

• Visual content: bringing clarity to the brand message: choose photographs, infographics and videos according to the information they need to explain, and adapt their composition to the channel and audience.

• How to measure brand experiences with clear criteria: define the decision you need to make, select observable actions and distinguish participation, comprehension and results you can attribute with evidence.

• Andy Warhol: pop art, advertising and brands: Explore Andy Warhol's relationship with advertising, consumer culture and music, and a reading of his work that raises questions for brand strategy.

Sources

The official history of Chupa Chups documents Dalí's involvement in the basis of its logo in 1969. The campaign and activation examples proposed in this article are hypothetical analytical exercises by GX Live Marketing.