Boon Coffee, a United Arab Emirates-grown brand, is dedicated to specialty coffees made from beans directly sourced from Ethiopia - the birthplace of coffee. Their pioneering spirit fuels their constant exploration of new grounds, blends, and flavors. Its shops are located in the main Dubai and Abu Dhabi spots, malls + commercial areas, setting itself apart from the big chains with customized flavored coffees.

As a proud UAE brand, they wanted to homage to the same exploring spirit of the UAE's space program, which keeps making history. Hazza Al Mansouri became the first Emirati astronaut, followed by the launch of the ‘Mars Hope Probe’ and now Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi is abroad at the International Space Station (ISS), to name but a few space achievements in recent years.

The product photography captured the essence of space exploration with its unique macro shooting style. The photographer's understanding of the direction of light resulted in a surreal effect that resembled shots of planetary surfaces through a telescope.

Before the shoot, an in-depth study was conducted to analyze the surfaces of Venus, Jupiter, and Pluto, along with various coffee blends, roasts, and bubbles, to gain a deeper understanding of their textures, colors, and nuances. This study was crucial for the final photography style.

To obtain the desired result, over 300 pictures were taken in 2 days. The photographer experimented with different camera formats and macro lenses, including the 15mm F/4 macro, 40-60mm, 120mm F/3.5 XCD, 50mm F/2.8, and more. Lighting was a crucial element and he experimented with continuous LED flash setups to control the lighting. The result was an immersive experience. No AI or Photoshop was involved in this work.

The campaign was released across the UAE in Gulf Today, the third most popular English newspaper of the country, plus one of the top lifestyle magazines. The advertisement got an overwhelming response from thousands of readers. Footfall across the Boon shops increased by 36% on weekdays and a massive 74.3% on weekends as people explored the new coffee roasts offered by Boon Coffee and treated their taste buds to an exploratory journey. Expectations were widely exceeded, even on Twitter, renowned space scientists based in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, mentioned and shared the ads. Major media outlets, such as Ad Age, Campaign, Lürzer's Archive, and others, picked the campaign, generating a PR value of more than USD 85,000.