Leo Burnett Paris client, Groupe Atlantic, calls itself “thermal comfort solution creators”. And yes, that sounds as though it spent too many hours being ‘finessed’ in a boardroom…

…until you read the next bit of the company’s blurb: “Thermal comfort, which is essential to our well-being, has become a major social issue by the need to balance our financial, environmental, and health concerns.”

Leo Burnett’s job was to send the message throughout the world that Groupe Atlantic is working to “transform prevailing energies into lasting well-being, by creating thermal comfort solutions that are ecologically efficient, accessible to all and suited to individual needs.”

It was a brief for a corporate campaign. But the agency didn’t create a corporate ad as such. It built a cube. Inside The Cube, Leo Burnett Paris and Groupe Atlantic gave birth to life…

…in a hostile environment on an isolate mountain in British Columbia. At 2,400 metres above sea level. In temperatures as low as –30° Celsius.

The (glass) Cube was divided into two sections, heated by two electric heaters. In each section, were hibernating life forms and blocks of ice positioned to irrigate the growing vegetation.

Over 37 days, heat produced by Groupe Atlantic caused plants to blossom butterflies to be born. A stark contrast to life (or the lack of it) outside The Cube.

The 3 minute film, 37 Days, for Atlantic Group Heaters from Leo Burnett Paris and Quad Productions Clichy won:

1 Gold Lion in Film Craft for Production Design/Art Direction

1 Gold Lion in Film Craft for Achievement in Production.

1 Bronze Lion in Film for Other Consumer Products, including Durable Goods and

1 Bronze Lion in Film Craft for Use of Original Music

Explore Heat is Life here.