Snapchat is trying another way to bring AR-driven ads to the masses. On June 18, the platform launched an activation in New York's Times Square, allowing passersby to interact with AR ads on large video screens.

Snapchat AR activation

Snapchat's "Crowd Created AR" activation offers an in-real-life (IRL) booth experience that places participants directly within digital ad scenes.

The platform partnered with HBO Max for this debut, creating AR promotional content for the new season of House of the Dragon. Participants could "insert" themselves into fictional battle scenes inspired by the show.

As Snap officially explained: "This new IRL ad format is the first Snapchat AR experience to project visitors in real time onto a Times Square billboard, and it's the first to feature a four-sided AR mirror." The activation promotes both Snapchat itself and its advertising partners, and may attract more users to the app.

This isn't the first time Snapchat has used IRL activations to build buzz. The Snapchat camera has become a regular at many sporting events, with fans appearing on jumbotrons in stadiums with Snap filters. Snapchat has also previously tried in-store AR activations for specific brands (as reported by Retail Brew) and has hosted interactive AR art projects at various museums and events.

Snapchat jumbotron example

However, this is the first time Snapchat has deployed such a large-scale AR activation at a high-visibility, high-traffic location. Depending on market interest, this move could create more profitable sponsored ad products for the company.

Snapchat is working to expand advertising opportunities to boost ad revenue and showcase the value of its digital tools and interactive AR experiences. Snapchat reported lower-than-expected revenue results in the first quarter of 2026, and app usage is declining in key markets. Therefore, it needs to leverage existing opportunities to increase revenue and offset rising development costs.

Like all major platforms, Snapchat is investing in artificial intelligence and spending heavily on the development and marketing of its new AR glasses. As a result, the platform is experimenting with more ad options and tools to find additional monetization avenues.

However, this campaign may have inadvertently pointed Snapchat toward its best path forward—namely, as a provider of third-party AR tools and activation services, creating value beyond the app.

If Snapchat's usage continues to decline, and it has already inserted as many ads as possible without alienating users, the company may need to explore more opportunities, such as offering premium AR experiences for platforms like Apple Vision Pro and Meta's upcoming AR devices.

AR does indeed hold promise to become more mainstream in the future, but whether Snapchat can sustain its own AR devices and platform remains to be seen. However, experiences like this one driven by Snapchat outside the app could become a new consideration for the company's business.