Just up the road from the Comic-Con convention, likeminded “believers” at UC San Diego are busy turning fantasy and science fiction into something very real. Courtesy photo: UCSD
By Judy Piercey and VITRO (UCSD)
LA JOLLA–For the first time, the horde of 100,000 attendees at San Diego Comic-Con can count a local university among its ranks.
Its presence will be seen on MTS trolleys, outdoor boards — even street teams wearing sandwich-boards and aluminum-foil-hats.
The message: Just up the road from this iconic convention, a whole school of likeminded “believers” are busy turning fantasy and science fiction into something very real.
Enter “Science Nonfiction” — a nontraditional campaign for UC San Diego that embraces the most visible annual event in its hometown.
“People who come to Comic-Con have a beautiful capacity to believe in the unbelievable,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla. “Our academic community shares that mix of curiosity and audacity — it’s what enables technology, medicine, music and design to take unimaginable leaps forward.”
Using eye-catching street graphics and headlines like, “FIREFIGHTERS COME FROM SPACE,” “RELIGION SOLVES GLOBAL WARMING,” and “TATTOOS CAN READ MINDS,” the campaign points Comic-Con attendees to stories of real breakthroughs born at UC San Diego.
Posters and t-shirts being handed out at the convention proudly proclaim “I BELIEVE,” while showing the university’s iconic, spaceship-like Geisel Library hovering in the sky.
Additionally, at iconic San Diego craft-beer bars, Science Nonfiction coasters, stickers and posters will greet thirsty attendees from both in- and out-of-town.
Developed by San Diego-based ad agency Vitro, the UC San Diego Science Nonfiction campaign lives online at ucsd.edu/believe. The school’s Instagram account (#sciencenonfiction) is hosting an interactive scavenger hunt during Comic-Con that could nab followers some one-of-a-kind swag, including posters, aluminum-foil hats, even GoPros and more.
