Back in 1837, the phrase “paint the town red” was used to describe the unruly acts of a nobleman and his friends as they ran around painting buildings and houses. Today, the popular expression means you’re having yourself a jolly good time out on the town.

New York-based paint company Benjamin Moore is borrowing the phrase, hoping to link the abundance of parties and galas that will pop up during TIFF with its recently launched “Paint the Town” campaign.

On average, the festival attracts over 260,000 people to Toronto and the brand is hoping that the scores of transit shelter ads, bus wraps and billboards it has spread out across the city will leverage that population influx to bring brand awareness, Rita Hunter-Dunne, retail development manager for Central and Western Canada, Benjamin Moore tells MiC.

Campaign media and creative was implemented in collaboration with Toronto-based GroundZero and entails images of paint dripping from the roofs of transit shelters. Posters and billboards are accompanied by the tagline, “Paint the Town.”

The brand will also have 20 ambassadors, in high traffic areas such as the King St. theatre district around the TIFF Bell Lightbox, toting LED backpacks that display campaign ads while they hand out coupons, says Hunter-Dunne.

“This is considerably different than what we have done before as we tend to adopt more conventional advertising strategies,” she says. “Taking it to the street level like this is a little more out of the box.”

The paint brand is targeting creative, high-income consumers aged 35- to 55-years old, says Hunter-Dunne.

“Most of our consumers are affluent baby boomers who are inspired by design and creativity,” she says. “And I think that is the TIFF moviegoer, they appreciate the creative arts as much as they appreciate their home.”

Spotted by: Katie Bailey, editor, Playback