Molson cheers Games with huge photo mosaic
Canadians will contribute pictures to a canvas at brewery
By Bruce Constantineau, Vancouver Sun
February 11, 2009 12:01 PM
Molson unveiled Wednesday a 4,000-square-foot, Olympic-themed canvas on the outside of its Vancouver brewery that is touted to become the largest photo mosaic ever created in Canada.
The mural will reveal a massive image and message of support for Canadian Olympians when it's completed just before the Games begin next year.
The mosaic will be made of thousands of pictures of individual Canadians raising a cheer to Games athletes -- photos they will upload to a Molson website.
"This is the biggest event this country has ever hosted and we want to do something really big to commemorate it," Molson Canadian brand director David Bigioni said in an interview. "Many Canadians won't be able to join in the celebrations here in Vancouver, so we wanted to give them some face time so they can be here in spirit."
A photo mosaic is a picture divided into equal-sized rectangular sections, each of which is replaced with a photograph of appropriate colour. In effect, thousands of small images work together to create one huge image.
The largest photo mosaic ever created was a 6,400-square-foot mural in Shanghai, China, last year that used more than 105,000 individual pictures.
Bigioni said he expects several thousand Canadians will participate by going to
www.2010muralproject.ca and uploading a personal photo. Participants will receive a set of "mural coordinates" to help them find their individual picture on a digital version of the giant mosaic.
The final mural image is a secret that will be slowly revealed as pictures are added to the canvas in four phases over the next year, with the final unveiling on the eve of the Games.
The mural image will be made available for purchase as a poster, with proceeds donated to Canadian Olympic and Paralympic teams.
Molson is an official supplier to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
Bigioni said Molson will have a major presence in Vancouver during the Games and expects to make several announcement about different Games initiatives over the next several months.
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