In order to promote the Británico English Institute, ad agency Young & Rubicam created the 'Barely Legal Media Space' campaign. The agency created ridiculously fake subtitle files and uploaded them for television piraters to download. After showing a few lines of obviously fake translations, the subtitles direct viewers to Británico's website and learn English.
The clever campaign was conceived because of the widespread television pirating in Peru. Since most of the shows are in English, piraters have to download subtitle files online to accompany the episode. Young & Rubicam noticed this and leveraged it as a free advertising channel. Fake Spanish subtitles were seeded to many of the most popular subtitle sites waiting for unsuspecting pirates to stumble upon them.
Though many of the campaign victims may have been angered, the campaign was effective in gaining the attention of Peruvians in a cheap manner.
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Subtitling Tricks
- The use of fake translations in subtitle files as a form of advertising and promotion.
- Piracy-bait Advertising
- Tactics that specifically target piraters in order to turn them into advertising channels, by giving them a surprise that leads to brand recognition.
- Unconventional Advertising Campaigns
- The use of novel and creative campaigns that capitalize on the unexpected, ultimately leading to a breakthrough in brand awareness.
Where This Applies
- Digital Advertising
- Digital ad agencies can leverage the proliferation of subtitle files and the associated pirate community to reach audiences in a cost-effective way.
- Language Education
- Language institutes can adopt creative campaigns that tap into common language learning pain points to boost enrollment.
- Media Content Creation
- Companies that create media content can establish innovative advertising partnerships with unconventional external partners, such as language institutes.
