What if the key to better sleep wasn’t hidden in a meditation app, but in a cup of decaf coffee and a darker skyline? That’s the bold bet behind Nescafé Clásico Decaf’s recent campaign in Panama, where the brand tackled a quiet but pervasive urban issue: nighttime light pollution.
With its initiative titled “Decaf Billboards,” Nescafé turned some of Panama City’s brightest digital advertising screens into peaceful nighttime companions—offering locals more than just a break from caffeine.
Panama holds an unusual record: the highest concentration of residential skyscrapers in Latin America, many topped with massive, high-luminosity billboards. These digital giants beam vivid ads into the homes of nearby residents, blurring the line between indoor comfort and outdoor advertising—and often disturbing sleep. What marketers see as dream ad space has increasingly become a source of unrest for city dwellers.
To illustrate that decaf coffee doesn’t disrupt sleep, Nescafé—alongside agency Star5—decided to help the city wind down at night. During the final hour of nightly ad rotation, selected digital billboards swapped their usual eye-catching content for slow-motion videos of coffee gently pouring. At the same time, the brightness of the screens was significantly lowered. It was a poetic shift—one that connected the product’s calming promise with a visual, sensory experience.
This initiative was more than a clever marketing stunt. It was a statement about brand responsibility. By offering an hour of reduced light each night, Nescafé gave Panama City residents something more valuable than attention: peace.
And this isn’t the first time the brand has innovated around sleep and relaxation. A few years back, Nescafé introduced vertical “nap capsules” in urban spaces—allowing tired commuters to take standing power naps. With “Decaf Billboards,” Nescafé reminds us that advertising can serve not only the brand but the public good. And sometimes, the most powerful message is the one softly lit.
