Lucid Experiences drops little-known facts about Lee Kuan Yew around SG for immersive experience

Lucid Experiences has partnered with TRCL and the Community Chest to launch a new immersive experience aimed at showcasing the life of the late Lee Kuan Yew, in commemoration of his 100th birth anniversary.

The interactive experience spans over 20 rooms, each unlocking a chapter to pull back the curtain on a lesser-known side of Lee as a child, a student, a husband and a statesman. 

Don’t miss: MCCY clarifies that use of Lee Kuan Yew's image on Yeo's drinks was 'respectful'

In tandem with the immersive experience, Lucid Experiences worked with creative agency GOVT for a campaign to celebrate the launch titled, ‘Discover the man, behind the name.’

The campaign spotlights the lesser-known sides of the well-known political figure and does so by publishing obscure Lee Kuan Yew facts on bus shelters across Singapore, digital channels and social media channels. 

Using contextual placements to incite curiosity towards Lee’s personal traits, the lines of trivia were revealed at bus shelters near relevant locations, such as his favourite dishes near food establishments and his exercise habits at bus stops near the Istana. These trivia facts were then followed up with an invitation to learn more about Lee at the immersive experience.

Bolstering the effort to drive anticipation, the campaign included social media content on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. This included a nine-post collage on the experience’s Instagram profile, forming a line artwork of the experience’s three-storey venue. Each post featured set design teasers and other pre-launch content, allowing followers to ‘virtually visit’ the venue before its opening.

Following the opening, upcoming social media content will also include an official launch video entirely shot within the experience’s rooms. It will also have an interactive Instagram Story ‘Pick-a-Room’ quiz that matches your personality with a room in the experience, and other content pieces which will be rolled out throughout the experience’s runtime.

"We've been hearing good things about GOVT for a while now, so when we started looking for a creative agency to help get the word out for our experience, we got in touch to see if it was possible to work together," said Tan Weiting, CEO of Lucid Experiences. "Our early conversations gave us confidence that they were the right partners to help us share this important Singapore story,” she said. 

“When Lucid Experiences first approached us with the opportunity to collaborate, we were very inspired by the team’s ambition to recreate Lee’s life story,” added Foong Min Mei, business director of GOVT Singapore. “It is a project very close to our hearts, as fellow Singaporeans will be coming together to tell the story in a way that we too hope will inspire and intrigue many others.”

 In honour of  Lee's 100th birth anniversary, which fell on 16 September, a number of local brands looked to create experiences to commemorate the leader. Unfortunately, not every initiative hit the mark. Recently, Asian food and beverage company Yeo Hiap Sing, better known as Yeo's, put out a special edition packaging of its Chrysanthemum Tea drink to commemorate the late Lee Kuan Yew’s centenary.

Unfortunately, the new packaging was not well-received and netizens voiced their objections to Yeo's controversial use of the late Prime Minister’s image on their product, according to media intelligence company Truescope. Online conversations about the new packaging deemed the move inappropriate and disrespectful.

Truescope found that traction on this issue continued since 31 August 2023 following a post by Yeo’s. Notably, the discussion surfaced on popular forum HardwareZone and The Straits Times Facebook Page.  Many netizens have decried this move as both inappropriate and disrespectful, asserting that Singapore's founding Prime Minister should remain beyond the reach of commercial endeavours. Critics have argued that it is disheartening to witness attempts to "milk profit" from the legacy of the late Lee Kuan Yew, even after his passing.

Furthermore, concerns were raised about the environmental impact of this marketing strategy, with critics pointing out that the packets bearing the late Lee Kuan Yew’s image are destined for bins or worse, scattered on the streets once the beverage is consumed. This, they argue, is a blatant disregard for the respect that he deserves.

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