Print Ad for the Moto X Changes Colors When You To

Print Ad for the Moto X Changes Colors When You Touch It

Who says there's no innovation in print advertising?

A print ad in the January issue of Wired will offer more interactivity than most online ads. As the video above shows, the full-page execution includes buttons that you can push to change the color of the pictured Moto X. The ad uses paper-thin components including a battery, LEDs and a keyboard-like button membrane to achieve that feat, according to a Motorola rep. Digitas created the ad, which was designed to underscore the handset's customizability.

About a quarter of Wired's readers —153,490 — will see the ad, which is being distributed in the New York and Chicago metro areas on Thursday. Moto decided to focus its media buy on those two cities to support extensive ad campaigns in those markets, a rep says.

Print hasn't been subject to a great deal of experimentation in recent years, but there have been some notable attempts in recent years to apply new technology to the medium. Last year, Lexus ran a print ad in which a car appeared to turn on its headlights and move when you put an iPad behind the page that was running a certain video. Around the same time, Entertainment Weeklyran a print ad that featured an actual working cellphone to rig up a working Twitter feed inside an ad for the CW's TV network.

The attention-grabbing print campaign comes after the Google-owned Motorola posted sales of500,000 Moto X devices in the third quarter, about 5% the sales of the Samsung Galaxy S4 had in its first month.