HORNBACH
Letter Theft

Agency: HeimatTBWA
Director: Tom Dream
Production: SLGH
Creative Direction: Guido Heffels, Luis Jaehner, Christofer Kümmerer
Art Direction: Christoph Laurisch, Joaquin Aubele
Writing: Luis Jähner, John-Conrad Speer

With a decades-long series of daring TV commercials, HORNBACH has established itself as the DIY megastore where customers can be their most inventive selves. But younger consumers, who usually don't watch TV, have not yet noticed.

HORNBACH wanted to change that - by inventing an imaginary youth culture movement that already sees the full potential and blurs the lines between fact and fiction: In 2022, letters mysteriously disappeared from the signs of HORNBACH stores. And then reappeared in the strangest of places: From Twitch to music videos.

As the internet erupted with memes and speculation, a “documentary” revealed the culprits: a gang of creative renegades who see the letters as symbols of creativity. With more than 600 million impressions, countless memes,

TikToks and leads from fans, HORNBACH developed a campaign that wasn't just broadcast, but co-created with the public.

© Christoph Laurisch 2023

Christoph Laurisch

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