A Series of Unfortunate Events, Launch
Netflix UK
Issue 44 | September 2017
Agency
We Are Social
Creative Team
Creative David Feldman Rory McClenaghan, Lee Cassanell
Production Team
Production In-house
Other Credits
Tom McMahon, Callum Taylor, Alicia Hepworth, Lisa Hardy, Helen Kartika, Rachel Hardicker
Date
January 2017
Background
Netflix was launching 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' - a harrowing show about three orphaned children whose large inheritance is being pursued by an evil distant uncle, Count Olaf. A show so horrifying, even Netflix were persuading people not to watch it in their comms.
Idea
On the bluest of Blue Mondays (the unhappiest day of the year), Netflix inserted a full-page letter in Metro commiserating with commuters on their harrowing daily odyssey into work. But warning them an even worse fate awaited them if they were to watch A Series of Unfortunate Events. In addition to that pernicious propaganda, Netflix partnered with Hummingbird Bakery, Black Sheep Coffee, Shoreditch Grind and other ostentatious outlets to pepper the streets and boutiques of London with Lemony Snicket quotes and gift cards in a campaign to prevent them from watching A series of Unfortunate Events (and raising awareness of the show.) A dastardly plan Count Olaf would be proud of. The terrible tale was captured in an Instagram Story, through the eyes of an unfortunate commuter.
Results
A lot of people stopped and smiled. Reddit fans spotted the secret clues that were left in the letter (all the Vs, Fs and Ds were raised - VFD is the acronym for the secret society in the show) and began discussing it all over the internet. Hundreds of people snapped and shared the signs and the letter on their social feeds - amazing considering it's a print ad.
Our Thoughts
Sorry to harp on about it, but the press advertising category at Cannes Lions was yet again unutterably depressing. In-jokes and visual puns, logos and explanations tucked away in the bottom right-hand corner. No copy.
Now this is more interesting than almost every ad that won a prize.
First off, it's been produced by an agency that "helps brands listen, understand and engage in conversations in social media."
And that's a clue. This is an ad designed to pique the interest of London's culture mavens and get them tip-tap-tapping away on their smartphones almost as soon as they read it.
Where most press ads are the story, this was an invitation to readers to become a part of the story and to demonstrate how smart, aware and influential they are.
Print can be social just as much as any tweet or posting.