News and current affairs programming rates very highly on RTÉ and can often overshadow our entertainment programming. We decided to address this by using the launch of the new series of The Young Offenders to show an edgier, fun side to both our programming and our brand.  

On the morning of the first programme’s TX RTÉ’s social media accounts shared photos of vandalism done to RTÉ's main sign, along with images of the words "FUCK YOU HEALY" (refers to a character in the series) and a crude drawing of a penis sprayed on the ground in yellow spray paint. 

The photos garnered a lot of traction with people who were convinced it was genuine, and from fans who knew it had something to do with The Young Offenders. 

We then shared '"CCTV" footage of two masked bandits on bikes (mimicking the leads in the returning series) apparently breaking into RTÉ, spraying the sign before finding their way to the roof.

The final reveal piece combined CCTV footage with mobile phone footage from the vandals' perspective and showed how they did it and why.

They had pasted a huge version of the campaign's key artwork on the side of RTÉ studio building. The stunt generated almost 400k views, nearly all on the day of the launch of the new series. 

CAMPAIGN 

Creative lead: Paula Byrne 

Social Media lead: Bren Murphy 

Art Director: Nigel McGuinness 

Marketing lead:  Amy O’Driscoll  

Graphic designer: Ultan Courtney

SOCIAL MEDIA SPOT 

CO-DIRECTORS: Paula Byrne/ Nigel McGuinness/ Bren Murphy