Guardian Weekly’s new experiential campaign asks Berliners to “break the glass” for free copies

The Guardian has launched an experiential ad campaign on the streets of Berlin that invites passersby to shatter the glass of a fire alarm-like box to claim free copies of its Guardian Weekly magazine. Each of the boxes feature slogans like “In case of injustice, break glass” or “In case of corruption, break glass” and include a tiny hammer to aid the smashing.

The campaign was led by The Guardian’s in-house creative team Oliver and aims to grow readership of the international news magazine post-Brexit. Germany is currently Guardian Weekly’s largest market in the EU, with a readership that has grown 54% since the magazine launched in 2018.

Spread across a number of locations in Berlin, the campaign features some of Guardian Weekly’s iconic covers from the last year with copy relevant to the themes found within. The “In case of corruption” box features a cover relating to President Trump’s impeachment hearing, while “In case of climate inaction”, houses the Kids V Climate Change cover from February 2019, where Guardian Weekly art director Andrew Stocks invited children to set the magazine’s visual agenda. Alongside the experiential campaign Oliver also created a series of print ads featuring the fire alarm boxes that were flypostered around the city.

Oliver's creative director Sam Jacobs said in a statement about the project: “Our response presents the magazine in a dramatic way, inviting by-passers to arm themselves with the facts behind the most important global issues and be inspired to take action.”

Oliver became The Guardian’s in-house marketing agency four years ago. Its unorthodox business model involves supplying and building in-house marketing teams within companies. Alongside The Guardian, its clients include Unilever, Barclaycard and BMW.