Damon Stapleton on How Droga5 Aotearoa Created “Unrepeatable” Bacterial Art
New Zealand wellness brand No Ugly, in collaboration with Droga5 Aotearoa, launched ‘The Bacteria That Grew a Campaign’ to promote its ‘No Ugly Gut’ tonic range.
The campaign visually showcases the beauty of gut health by cultivating bacillus coagulans bacteria on agar plates, transforming bacterial growth patterns into artworks, supported by OOH, press, social media, and a behind-the-scenes film.
The work embraces the captivating, unpredictable bacteria, treating it as the artist and allowing its natural growth to create unique, unrepeatable artworks.
As Damon Stapleton, chief creative officer at Droga5, explained to , “We couldn't direct the bacteria like we would talent at a photoshoot — we learned to embrace the bacteria's natural creativity, understanding that each dish was a singular, unrepeatable moment of organic art.”
> What inspired the decision to turn gut health into a visual art project, and why did you think it would resonate with the audience?
Damon> The beauty and wellness industries focus a lot on what beauty looks like on the outside. Glowing skin, shiny hair, flawless faces. But then there’s No Ugly Gut, a probiotic drink that works from the inside out. That got us thinking: how do you prove that tiny, unseen bacteria can have a big, beautiful impact?
Our goal was to make the invisible visible, turning an abstract concept of gut health into something tangible and compelling that people could actually see and understand.
We believed that this authenticity, seeing the actual product ingredients create art, would resonate more than just another glossy beauty campaign.
> How did you approach balancing the scientific accuracy of the bacterial growth with the artistic aspect of the campaign?
Damon> The key was our commitment to authenticity. We wouldn't fake or stage anything. The trick was in setting up the right conditions scientifically and then knowing when it was time to step back and let the bacteria take the role of artist.
> What challenges did you face when working with actual bacteria, and how did you overcome them?
Damon> The unpredictability was both the biggest challenge and the most exciting part. The whole project was one big experiment. We knew microbial art could be amazing, but when we started, we didn't know how our specific strain of bacteria would grow or whether it could create anything visually compelling. Plus, you're working with something that's essentially invisible, so you can't really see whether it's worked until a couple of days later when it's actually grown.
Each time Siouxsie [scientist Dr Siouxsie Wiles] prepared a dish, we were reminded of the unpredictable nature of living organisms. We couldn't direct the bacteria like we would talent at a photoshoot. So, instead of trying to force a specific look, we learned to embrace the bacteria's natural creativity, understanding that each dish was a singular, unrepeatable moment of organic art.
> Can you walk us through the creative process of developing the bacterial growth patterns for the artwork?
Damon> The creative process involved experimenting with different nutrients and environmental conditions to influence how the bacteria grew and interacted. As much as we might like to think otherwise, there isn’t always a method to the madness when it comes to creative ideas. But given the role of science, this project was especially methodical, much more so than what you might expect in typical creative projects.
We started by isolating the specific probiotic strain from No Ugly Gut and then experimented by introducing it to different agar media enriched with various nutrients. Then, we left it to cultivate at 37 degrees, human body temperature.
Each environment – whether it was sugars, yeast, or amino acids – changed how the bacteria grew and expressed themselves visually. Watching each petri dish evolve was like developing a photograph in a darkroom; you know what you’ve put in, but you don’t see the full picture until it develops.
> How did you collaborate with Dr Siouxsie Wiles to ensure the campaign was scientifically sound while still being artistically compelling?
Damon> Dr. Siouxsie Wiles was the perfect collaborator for this project. She's not your typical scientist stuck in a lab coat - she's got pink hair and this infectious enthusiasm for making science accessible. She's known for her work with glowing bacteria, so she already understood how microorganisms could be visually captivating.
She guided us through the whole process, suggesting different nutrient combinations that might create interesting colours or patterns based on how these specific bacteria behave. What was great about working with her was that she got the vision immediately. She wasn't just focused on the science being correct (though that was non-negotiable). She was genuinely excited about the artistic potential.
> What do you hope people take away from the idea that “good bacteria” can be beautiful?
Damon> We hope it shifts how people think about bacteria and gut health. Bacteria are often painted as the bad guys, but here they’re the star of the show – and a very pretty show at that. If this makes people curious about nurturing their gut microbiome, then we’ve succeeded.
Beyond that, we hope people reconsider how they think about beauty itself. We're so fixated on surface appearances, but there's incredible beauty happening inside us at a microscopic level. It's a reminder that beauty isn't just skin-deep – it truly is gut-deep.
