How MX Player used shockvertising for Thinkistan 2 campaign!

Brand: MX Player 

Agency: WATConsult 

Objective 

Create awareness around the latest season of Thinkistan while bringing the industry’s attention to the issue of credit stealing in the world of advertising. 

Execution 

MX Player recently released the second season of Thinkistan, a show set in the 90s and based on the Indian advertising industry. The new season sheds light on the issue of plagiarism and credit stealing faced by the ad world through a character named, William. 

To highlight this issue, MX Player decided to face the wrath of their users by picking up great campaigns executed by leading brands and passing it as their original work. The brand picked up stellar work created by industry majors such as Netflix, Spotify India, Zomato, Amul, and more and passed it as ‘original work’ created by MX Player itself. 

Spotify

Ideabuoy

Durex

With their fans, followers, and industry leaders perplexed at the blatant copy, the brand went ahead and positioned them as the #IdeaChor. 

MX Player also ‘copied’ work done by leading M & A influencer, Akshar Pathak creating ripples among his followers.

Akshar Pathak

Influencers such as Sagarcasm, Bollywood Gandu, Trendulkar and Gabbar Singh also became a part of the conversation on Twitter as they called out the brand. Each of the influencers shed light on how stealing credit for someone else’s work is the ultimate low. 

Bollywood Gandu

Trendulkar

Gabbar Singh

Sagarcasm

Atul Khatri

With the industry buzzing around #IdeaChor, the brand had all eyes on them and picked the right time to make the big reveal. In their announcement, MX Player highlighted how it pinches when a brand or person’s credit is stolen while creating buzz around Thinkistan Season 2.  

MX Player made a bold move by sabotaging themselves and facing the wrath of the industry and its fans and followers to make an important point.  

Results 

The campaign not only managed to create a buzz around MX Player and Thinkistan’s second season but also grabbed eyeballs for brands whose work they have “copied”. 

Further, the initiative was picked up massively by PR & Media houses adding to the conversations around the brand and Thinkistan. 

With leading brands involved, MX Player had the opportunity to tap their audience while creating organic conversations. 

Hashtag #IdeaChor was trending in India at No. 2 on Twitter and this led to MX Player witnessing a steep rise in the number of mentions.

In a span of only two days, the #IdeaChor campaign garnered over 10 million+ impressions and engaged with over 7 lakh+ people. While this may have started as a nascent campaign, the staggering organic response has ensured that MX Player is still fielding comments and engagement across platforms.