An advertisement for the National Agency for the Fight Against Illiteracy in France. A close-up of a person wearing makeup is paired with a mascara wand and tube, under the headline “UNFORTUNATELY”. Text reads “3 MILLION PEOPLE IN FRANCE WILL KEEP ON THINKING that this is an advertisement”, followed by the word “MASCARA” written over a graph. Smaller text at the bottom asks for help to make illiteracy the national cause of 2013.

Adverts which are not what they seem by DDB Paris for literacy campaign

Words: Holly Wilkins
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Date: 23 April 2013; Work
Advertising

Aha! I know you thought when you clicked on this post we had succumbed to really crass advertising. Do you think we would do that to you? Really? We will put our hurt feelings aside (because we love you), and reveal that these adverts are actually a French literacy campaign, created by ad agency DDB Paris. Clever eh?

These translated versions look EXACTLY like your typical car, mascara and movie posters, making a powerful point as it’s only the text which explains the aesthetic fakery. They also bring a unique awareness to an issue whose prevalence is a real stain on modern societies.