Ads created in colored pencil ask: Is it a drawing or a photo?

David São Paulo's new ads in Brazil for art-supply brand Faber-Castell feature fun product demonstrations—images created with the brand's EcoLápis Cor SuperSoft colored pencils that are so realistic, they might be mistaken for photographs.

Ads appeared on bus and subway shelters in several cities, with the question: “Picture or Drawing?” 

“We want to entertain and show that with EcoLápis Cor SuperSoft, we take creativity and drawing to a realistic level, to the point of being mistaken for a photo,” said Flávia Giordano, Faber-Castell's marketing director.

The German-founded brand has been making art supplies for over 260 years. For this campaign, Faber-Castell invited five artists—Pedro Lopes, Jader Ferreira, Will Costa, Sâmia Escorcio and Gustavo Assarian—to create paintings to show how art made with its products can be hyper-realistic. Photos of each painting, ranging from eyes to fruit, were placed next to each other.

An accompanying 45-second spot shows street interviews, quizzing passerby on the illustrations, many of whom were stumped.

People will also be able to guess on a website created for the project. BuzzFeed will publish a quiz with campaign images. The results can be shared on social media, where the campaign will also run, on apps such as Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.