How JetBlue Made Ads So Good People Stole Them

Want to generate more engagement with your company’s out-of-home ads? Make them so compelling that consumers want to steal them.

If this seems easier said that done, consider taking a page from JetBlue’s #NYCTakeoff campaign playbook. In the campaign, JetBlue hid prizes in bus shelter ads at 181 stops across New York City’s five boroughs. The ads had different images, from a cheeseburger to a NYC cityscape, an airplane, and more, all in the company’s classic JetBlue design aesthetic.

What differentiated these ads from other bus shelter ads were the clever call-to-actions. Under each image, JetBlue directly tells people walking by to steal the ads with copy that reads, “Literally. Take This Ad. Literally,” and, “Only A Real New Yorker Can Pull This Off.”

Would you rip an ad off of a bus shelter? Watch as New Yorkers make this decision in this “hidden camera” style ad.

It’s amazing to watch people ripping the ads off of the bus shelters. It’s also a bit surprising that nobody stopped to yell at them! Also? How genuis is it to…