Rolling Stones Roll Out Gorilla In 50 Cities Worldwide

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the world’s longest-serving rock band, the release of the Rolling Stones’ latest compilation GRRR!, has drawn tantalisingly closer with an innovative app released today to help market the new best-of.

The compilation album is a celebration of the Stones’ extraordinarily long career, with 2012 seeing the foursome still going strong 50 years after their first ever gig.

Remaining obstinately relevant five decades on, The Stones are utilising smartphone technology called Aurasma to publicise the album, which will feature two new songs from the band.

Aurasma works by pointing a smartphone at an object in reality. It will then project a video or animation onto the screen, combining real-world footage with a digital creation in order to form an “augmented reality.”

In this case, iconic landmarks all over the world have been tagged so as to have a giant, King Kong style gorilla climbing all over them when Aurasma is activated – a reference to the bizarre, luscious lipped gorilla designed by Walton Ford set to adorn GRRR!‘s cover.

3000 locations in 50 cities across the world have been tagged with the animation, including the Empire State Building, Big Ben, and – closer to home for Australian fans of the band – the Sydney Opera House.

Matt Mills, Head of Sales at Aurasma, has humbly called the app “a fitting tribute to the impact the Stones have had on the world.”

“The Rolling Stones are living legends with millions of fans around the world. We are absolutely thrilled that Aurasma has been chosen to help launch the new album and kick start the band’s 50th anniversary celebrations,” he said.

Users can download the app for IOS or Android from the Rolling Stones’ website, which will direct them to their nearest tagged location. They are then encouraged to take photos of the gorilla in action, and tweet them with the hashtag #GRRR!. Those not as social media literate as the Rolling Stones can also email them to grrr@rollingstones.com, where they will be posted on an interactive Fan Wall accessible from the website.

Fifty mysterious prizes are also up for grabs for the best submissions, including a “money can’t buy” reward for the best two.

Along with the gorilla, fans can access other exclusive content and pre-order the album from today. The massive 50-track release will be available as a 3CD set, a 12″ Vinyl box set, and a collector’s box set including a 7″ Vinyl, hardback book and other collectables.

While nothing has yet been confirmed, guitarist Keith Richards has also fuelled enthusiastic rumours of a possible tour, hinting with typical eloquence to the BBC, ”we’re playing around with the idea and had a couple of rehearsals – we’ve got together and it feels so good.”

“There might be life in the old dog yet – we’ll die gracefully, elegantly wasted.”

GRRR! is set to be released on November 12, you can view the gorilla-fied artwork below and imagine the Jagger-lipped Kong scrambling over the Sydney Opera House, or simply see GRRR! himself clambering over Paris’ Arc de Triomphe.