GLOBO TV | One Thousand Casmurros | 2009
1,000 People Read One Book / GLOBO TV "One Thousand Casmurros"
Split a book into 1,000 pieces and have 1,000 people read it. Who even comes up with that?
The problem
2009 marked 100 years since the death of Machado de Assis, the great master of Brazilian literature. Globo TV made a miniseries called "Capitu," based on his famous novel "Dom Casmurro." The challenge was how to bring 19th-century literature to a younger generation that was drifting away from television.
The insight
The idea was to split the entire text into 1,000 pieces and have everyone read it aloud together. It turned reading, normally such a solitary act, into something you could actually take part in. The judges praised it as "an interesting attempt to experience a classic through digital means."
The idea
Each person read their assigned part in front of a webcam and posted it to a dedicated website. Everyone from ordinary people to Globo TV's own on-air talent took part, celebrities and amateurs alike each reading just one part. That's how the entire book ended up recorded, piece by piece.
What happened
The campaign won Gold in the PR category at the 2009 Cannes Lions. It was Brazil's first Lion that year. It reportedly generated media exposure worth an estimated 6.7 million dollars in advertising value.
Afterthought
A thousand voices come together to become one book. It's the moment a solitary act of reading turns into a shared memory. I bet even Machado de Assis would be amazed by this.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 2009
Featured in
- Alone, You Can't Reach ItAn ad that isn't finished until one more person shows up.
