The Streisand Effect

Trying to “cancel”, suppress or censor information has always, ALWAYS the opposite effect. It just increases awareness of that information. 



View Album Details


In 2019 Netflix wanted to create a trailer to promote Narcos Mexico in Thailand.

The problem? Narcos Mexico is filled with drugs, guns, war weapons, explosions...and sex scenes.

And Netflix needed the approval of a committee of bureaucrats, the Thai Censorship Board.

But this wasn't going to be an easy job. Because the bureaucrats behind the Thai Censorship Board are famous for being ruthless censors.

On Thai TV, cigarettes, booze, weapons, blood and bikinis are always blurred out. Because of strict censorship laws.

In Thailand, I shit you not, even cartoons like Doraemon, Dragon Ball Z or Sailor Moon are censored.

So the folks at J. Walter Thompson Bangkok, the ad agency behind Netflix's Thai account, had a CRAZY idea.

To hijack Thailand's censorship laws. And take full advantage of a basic principle of human behavior: The Streisand Effect.

The Streisand Effect is a social phenomenon.

And it happens when you (unintentionally) end drawing more attention to something. Because you tried to hide, remove or censor it.



So JWT Bangkok submits Narco’s Mexico trailer and artworks to the Thai Censorship Board.

What happened next was 100% expected.

The Thai Censorship Board said, "You have to cut out inappropriate content".

So that's exactly what JWT Bangkok did.

Then Netflix Thailand aired the cut version of their trailer everywhere.

First on TV nationwide. Then via digital screens in Bangkok.
Then via censored billboards placed in Bangkok’s prime areas.The more Netflix tried to hide Narcos Mexico's "inappropriate content", the more Thai people wanted to watch it.

The campaign ended going viral online. It also made headlines in Thai and international news media, including mainstream TV channels.

The result? Over 93 million impressions and 34 million people reached.

Learn on how to crack the code of human behavior and you'll have an unbeatable competitive advantage.

Takeaways for your business:

1. People, brands and ideas that get banned become (even) more popular and valuable.

Trying to “cancel”, suppress or censor information has always, ALWAYS the opposite effect. It just increases awareness of that information. And in the era of the Internet publicizing the censorship just makes the news spread faster.

In Psychology this is a phenomenon known as Psychological reactance. This phenomenon is also known as The Streisand Effect (named after singer Barbra Streisand).

Context: In 2003, Barbra Streisand tried to sue photographer Kenneth Adelman. Adelman runs a website where he documents the coastline of California.

The problem? Adelman posted an aerial photo of Streisand's beach mansion in Malibu.

Streisand wasn't happy about it and claimed the photo was an invasion of her privacy. So she files a lawsuit against Adelman.

Before suing Adelman only six people had downloaded the photo.

But then the lawsuit became public. And suddenly all the Press was talking about it.

Streisand lost the lawsuit. And thanks to all the unwanted publicity her beach mansion photo ended becoming viral online, driving 420,000 visits in one month to Adelman's website.

2. The most impactful ad campaigns are the ones that have the power to become a topic of conversation and earn free media.