DIESEL | HEIDIES 15 MB OF FAME | 2007
Not 15 minutes, 15 MB. A website hijacked for five days / DIESEL "HEIDIES 15 MB OF FAME"
In 2007, if you opened diesel.com, instead of the usual homepage you saw a hotel room. Two women were holding an employee hostage, shouting that they wanted to be famous. This went on for five days.
The problem
It was a time when YouTube and reality TV were growing side by side. Everyone wanted to be famous, and DIESEL cut into that with irony.
The insight
They took Andy Warhol's "15 minutes of fame" and turned it into "15 MB of fame." Viewers didn't just watch—they voted on what the hostage had to do. The nerve to let your own website get hijacked was the whole idea.
The idea
Six cameras filmed a hotel room nonstop, 24 hours a day. The two women wore unreleased underwear and held an employee named Juan captive. Viewers voted on what should happen next, with options like "wax his legs" or "put ice in his underwear." The footage also circulated on YouTube, was promoted on MySpace, and on the fifth day it ended when DIESEL gave in to the hostage-takers' demands.
What happened
By the third day, traffic was three times the usual level. The campaign won the Grand Prix at Cannes Cyber, and also picked up awards at the One Show and the Clio Awards.
Afterthought
No product, no models. They just made something you couldn't stop watching—and before you knew it, you realized it was a DIESEL ad. That nerve, not being afraid of getting interrupted—I'd love to make work like that too.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Grand Prix 2007
