Howatson+Company’s ‘If you can take it, it’s yours’ campaign for Selleys has already proven popular at awards shows. But it could have been significantly different.
In case you haven’t seen the out-of-home-focused campaign, Selleys challenged the public to try to remove a range of objects glued to a giant outdoor billboard, with anyone able to take an item home if they could pull it off. From kayaks to arcade machines and even a mounted marlin, the stunt turned the brand’s adhesive strength into a live public challenge.
But if it weren’t for budget cuts, the attention-grabbing Newtown billboard would have looked a lot simpler.
“Initially, it was meant to be just one billboard slide. There was only going to be one product per poster, but because of budget, we had to put all the items onto the one,” said Dan Smith, senior art director at Howatson+Company, to 300 marketers at OUTperform—the Outdoor Media Association’s 2026 industry conference.
Looking back, however, Smith said the consolidation ended up being a “blessing”.
“We didn’t miss anything — we captured every single attempt of people trying to pull down the glued items. Whereas if it were in multiple locations, we might have missed some people. So it ended up being a blessing that it was all in the one controlled space,” he added.
Whilst the final execution evolved due to budget constraints, the core idea behind the campaign came from a much simpler insight.
Also speaking at the OUTperform 2026, Ernie Ciaschetti, senior copywriter at Howatson+Company, said the idea was sparked during the initial client briefing.
“When Selleys briefed us, they came in with two handles stuck together. They passed them around the room, and it became really fun trying to rip them apart. From there, we knew we had the idea,” he said.
The campaign also served as a reminder that out-of-home doesn’t always have to play a supporting role in a broader campaign
Speaking at the OUTperform 2026, van der Merwe said advertisers often overlook the creative potential of the medium.
“There’s certain media formats that are labelled ‘the cool ones’ that you try and enter, and often people forget about out-of-home and how you have this amazing opportunity where you can compete like nowhere else,” she said.
That type of thinking helped the campaign, which turned a Sydney roadside billboard into the ultimate product demonstration, take home the Grand Prix at the 2025 OMA Creative Awards.
The work is also being recognised at the Cairns Crocodiles Awards, where it is a finalist across six categories: FMCG Campaign, Out of Home Campaign, Branded Content, Effectiveness, Experiential & Activations, and Strategy.
Selleys and Howatson+Company will find out on Thursday whether the campaign can add to its growing list of accolades, while the work itself will also be on display throughout the festival.
Don’t have your ticket for tomorrow? Snap one up before it’s too late.
