This Zika-Killing Billboard Lures Mosquitos With the Essence of Human Sweat and Breath

Out-of-home advertising continues its recent quest to make the outdoors a better place to live—not just a place to sell stuff—with interesting billboards in Brazil that kill mosquitos, and hope to make a dent in the spread of the Zika virus.

The boards were designed by Brazilian advertising agency NBS and OOH agency Posterscope, both part of Dentsu Aegis Network. Their panels are equipped with technology that attracts and kills the Aedes Aegypti mosquito—by mimicking the essence of human sweat and breath.

The boards emit a solution into the air containing lactic acid, which reproduces the smell of human sweat, and also carbon dioxide, which replicates human breathing. The combination of these substances attracts mosquitos at a distance of up to 2.5 miles, the agencies say. 

The headline on the ads reads, "This billboard kills hundreds of Zika mosquitos every day."

Here's a video explaining more about how it works:

Once trapped inside the billboards, the mosquitos die of dehydration. The ads were placed in specific areas based on where Zika and dengue outbreaks were happening.

The technology used here is available for free online at mosquitokillerbillboard.com under a Creative Commons NonCommercial-Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license, meaning anyone can download and reproduce the boards anywhere in the world.

Billboards in general have been getting more socially conscious in recent years, some of them through pioneering tech that helps ease environmental problems around them. The most famous example is FCB Mayo's billboard that drew moisture out of humid air and turned it into potable drinking water. 

Billboards that attract insects also have something of a history, including this 2010 board from England that used queen-bee pheromones to draw a giant swarm of bees and raise awareness of the declining honey-bee populations. 

CREDITS

Project Name: The Mosquito Killer Billboard

Advertising Agency: NBS

Creative VP: André Lima

Chief Creative Officer: Carlos André Eyer

Creative Director: Marcello Noronha

Creative: Augusto Correia, Bob Ferraz, Hagall Muniz

RTVC: Andrea Metzker

Account Managers: Antonino Brandão, Camilo Coelho.

Business Intelligence: Rafael Bica

Media:  Poliana Tonelli

PR: Camilo Coelho, Karina Okabatake, Caroline Lessa, Máquina Cohn & Wolfe

Film Producer: Cinerama

Director:  Daniel Vargas

Account Managers: Evelyn Oliveira

Executive Producer: Mario Nakamura

Coordinator of Post- Production: Luiz Meliga

Editor: Cris Sampaio

Coordinator of Production: Taís Quadros

CG: Ricardo Brizio

Colorist: Ari Marins

Production: Nina Riviello

Cinematography: Silvia Gangemi

Additional Cinematography: Thiago Lima, Bernardo Richter and Alexandre Rosa

Camera Assistant: Edmar Rosa

Electrician: Paulinho Et

Sound Production: Sonido

Direction and Music Production: João Miguel

Art Directors: Angelo Henrique, Rodrigo Santos

Planning Supervisor: Paulo Farias

Out of home agency: Posterscope

Posterscope lead: Otto Frossard

Production: Julio Pires

Development/Media: Clear Channel