Readers of Colombian news magazine Semana got a shock with their December issue when they found an advertising insert made of banana leaves.
The aim of the single page insert, which had been screen printed with an advert for the new special edition Prado Cruiser, was to tell Colombians to keep in touch with nature. The message was literally driven home by use of a natural product as the print medium.
What's particularly interesting about this case study is the logistical effort that's gone into producing this innovative insert. Six-foot Banana leaves that were going to be destroyed were used, bought from the biggest producers in the country.
Each leaf had enough coverage to produce eight ads but the ads had to be hand printed within five days to ensure the leaf would still be in prime condition by the time it reached the readers of Semana.
Finally the message was delivered to the home of more than 20,000 subscribers in Bogota and Medellín.
The innovative ad format has received a host of publicity online both in Colombia and internationally.