77% of magazines along with their ads end up in the trash. This is a huge waste of paper. So when Volkswagen wanted to create a campaign to promote the eco-conscious thinking behind its BlueMotion vehicles, their ad agency Ogilvy developed a print insert that got the people of Cape Town to recycle the magazines via the cities post boxes!
You click a trending video for a quick distraction, and suddenly the content you came for is interrupted by a stark message about rhino poaching. The contrast is the point. It forces you to notice what you normally scroll past.
Forever Wild, described as a no-budget anti-poaching initiative, wanted to make the illegal rhino horn trade feel urgent and push people to sign a petition intended for the US Congress. Ogilvy Cape Town responded with “YouTube Interventions”, remixing the format of popular videos so viewers looking for frivolous entertainment were confronted with the cost of their online attention.
In global digital culture, the scarcest resource is attention, and the most effective cause work often borrows distribution from the very platforms that usually dilute serious messages.
A “YouTube intervention” is a deliberate disruption of an existing video viewing pattern. Instead of asking people to search for a cause film, the campaign inserts a cause message into what people are already watching, then uses that interruption to drive a clear action.
The campaign’s urgency is framed through a common warning at the time, that rhinos could disappear within roughly a decade if poaching continued to escalate. Whether the viewer is convinced or sceptical, the interruption makes the question unavoidable. What are you spending your time on, and what does that choice enable?
This idea does not compete for attention on merit alone. It piggybacks on attention that already exists. By choosing trending videos, the campaign meets people where their behaviour already is, then flips the emotional tone fast enough to create discomfort, reflection, and action.
A normal PSA is easy to avoid. You skip it, scroll past it, or never choose it in the first place. An intervention changes the default. The viewer is already in viewing mode, already committed to watching something, and the disruption creates a brief window where a petition ask can actually land.
The work was recognised in awards circuits in the period, including a Clio Awards shortlist and a Loeries medal for media innovation, which helped amplify the case beyond the initial view counts.
They are remixed versions of trending videos that insert a rhino-poaching message into the viewing experience, then direct viewers to sign a petition.
Because that is where volume lives. The campaign uses the audience’s existing behaviour and turns it into a moment of confrontation, rather than hoping people will seek out a serious film.
Distribution. Instead of paying for reach, the campaign borrows reach from content that is already spreading.
By tying the disruption to a specific action. The message is not only “this is terrible”, it is “sign here”, with the interruption acting as the attention gate.
Backlash. If the disruption feels deceptive or manipulative, viewers reject the message. The creative has to be transparent about why it is interrupting and what it wants people to do.
The interactive print ad mania continues. After RWB and Axa, we have Mercedes Benz joining in with their ad for the new Mercedes CL63 AMG.
Print is fighting for attention against screens, so the smart responses are the ones that make print behave a little more like digital. Not by adding complexity for its own sake, but by adding a clear reason to engage.
Across these executions, the pattern is consistent. The page stops being the end of the experience. It becomes the trigger.
What is this Mercedes-Benz post pointing to?
That Mercedes-Benz joined the wave of interactive print ads with an execution for the Mercedes CL63 AMG.
What were the earlier references in this “interactive print” trend?
Earlier examples referenced here include the RWB execution and an AXA-related print activation.
What is the core mechanic of interactive print ads?
The print ad becomes a trigger that invites a second step, so the experience continues beyond the page.
Why does the format matter in 2011?
It helps print compete by creating engagement, not just delivering a static message.
