A tech company’s text-heavy mural in London’s trendy Shoreditch area, known for its street art, used the word «VPN» 24 times without actually explaining what a virtual private network is or does. Which was kinda the point.
The eye-catching artwork was the creation of VPN provider Surfshark and graffiti art company KingMurals, which collaborated on a PR stunt.
VPNs, or virtual private networks, create an encrypted tunnel that lets you engage in online activity without exposing your IP address, your physical location or other personal information. CNET’s review of Surfshark notes that the service «gets the job done for casual VPN users.»
In a video, Surfshark said it was trying to present VPNs as a «lifestyle» that isn’t technically daunting, like «decoding a spaceship manual.»
The mural itself, which went up in late August, reads like a Mad Libs game, but with just a single term filling in all the holes in the text. Here’s how it is in its entirety:
«If you need a VPN, and that VPN is to be a VPN, then you need our VPN,because our VPN does VPN like a VPN should VPN. When a VPN is needed, our VPN becomes the VPNest VPN to ever VPN. Our VPN makes other VPNs question their VPN, if their VPN does it in the way VPNs should. So get the VPN, because not getting this VPN means not having a VPN at all, and that’s just not very VPN of you. Just get it. It’s a VPN.» It’s followed with the brand name Surfshark VPN.
The company posted videos on YouTube and LinkedIn showing how the mural was created and took to social media to show reactions from passersby.
Unconventional VPN marketing
The mural was created to build awareness of VPNs.
«As people become more conscious of cybersecurity and privacy, we want VPNs to be seen as an everyday essential rather than tech-only tool. With this campaign, we wanted to strip away the complexity and show that choosing a VPN doesn’t have to be difficult or intimidating,» said Regimantas Urbanas, chief marketing officer at Surfshark.
VPNs aren’t typically the subject of flashy marketing in public places. «Most VPNs who do advertise generally stick to conventional tactics like influencer and digital marketing campaigns that may or may not stick in people’s minds,» said CNET Senior Writer Attila Tomaschek, who covers the VPN market.
Surfshark’s mural, on the other hand, may bring awareness to VPNs and digital-privacy issues in a more creative way, Tomaschek said. «It’s these provocative, thought-provoking guerrilla campaigns the company cooks up that really seem to hook people and stimulate discourse about the importance of protecting your privacy online.»
Last year, the company performed a different PR stunt in London involving an exposed bathroom atop a trailer truck to build awareness for data privacy. It was known as «The Transparent Loo» experiment.