Toronto-based Lowe Roche’s latest campaign for the Toronto Zoo aims to get online kids adopting and nurturing a virtual dinosaur egg to build buzz for the ‘Dinosaurs Alive!’ exhibit, which runs until October.

An interactive microsite, BabyDino.ca, gives kids the option to sign up and adopt an egg. The site’s virtual incubator lets visitors name and customize their eggs and the lighting and temperature of their environment – along with the option of buffing and flipping the eggs. Whenever an egg hatches, a baby dino does a little dance for its caretaker.

This digital element is part of an integrated marketing campaign that also includes TV, cinema and print executions promoting the zoo’s life-size animatronic dinosaurs. The TV spots feature mermaids, fairies and leprechauns dismissing rumours that dinosaurs still exist. The spots will air in southern Ontario, and Lowe Roche’s work was done pro bono.