Best of Our Worst Reviews by Finch

The Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) in Australia has launched a campaign based on bad reviews on the museum.

The campaign by the Tasmania-based museum, created by Finch and called “Best of Our Worst Reviews”, used more than 400 bad one-star reviews about the museum on TripAdvisor, Facebook, and Google.

Mona is Australia’s largest private museum and the second most-visited tourist attraction in Tasmania.

“We wanted to convey the idea that these keyboard warriors were having ‘acid flashbacks’ of their time at Mona. Using actual reviews as our script, we ensured there was a diverse range of unsatisfied ‘reviewers’ and placed them in a scene that instantly spoke to their personality,” said Alex Roberts, the director of the campaign video.

“We were a nimble crew that spent the day filming a bunch of sad and angry faces to sell a museum. Not your usual commercial shoot and it was an absolute pleasure. Thanks, Mona.’”

Robbie Brammall, Mona’s director of marketing and communications, added: “A bit of ad spend is a necessary evil as we help the Tassie tourism industry recover from the impacts of Covid-19. But hopefully, we’re doing it in a Mona way—one that’s ill-advised and potentially disastrous”.

Plans for merchandise featuring one-star Mona reviews and an augmented reality Instagram filter will hit the market in late March.