FX buys New York Times ads around Jeff Sessions Russia gaffe to promote USSR spy thriller The Americans
In the age of the digital marketplace, reactive brands can win the day juxtaposing their ads in news publications above relevant content.
The Americans in the New York Times
In this instance, FX has used the current furore around attorney general Jeff Sessions’s secretive meeting with the Russian ambassador to promote 'The Americans', a 1980s Cold War thriller portraying the trials and tribulations of two Russian sleeper agents in the US.
FX looked to tap into the discourse around President Donald Trump’s connections to Russia by generating buzz around its show, which is more relevant now than ever before, as relations with Putin’s Russia continue to sour.
Furthermore, another ad translated the entire New York Times into Russian - echoing the show's theme of Soviet infiltration.
Too soon, ad for The Americans that turned the NYT home page into Russian this morning. pic.twitter.com/yvQhXo2bh7
— Meg Wood (@megwood) March 3, 2017
The NYT homepage has an ad for The Americans that makes it look like Russia hacked their website... very clever pic.twitter.com/yM6lP4Clr0
— Vicky J (@coachvictoriaa) March 3, 2017
CLEVER The Americans NYT takeover
phase 1: fake English paper
2: English words morph to Russian
3: banner ads between REAL Russia headlines pic.twitter.com/pEe9KAVNhm
— Andréa López (@bluechoochoo) March 3, 2017
With the new season set to get underway, 7 March on FX, the media buy provided a timely series of media coverage and engagement on social media.