Andrew Garfield Is Winston Smith in Audible's New Adaptation of 1984

Wavemaker UK and Audible, a leading provider of spoken word entertainment, have collaborated on a campaign to promote an upcoming Audible Original, George Orwell’s 1984. 

Launching to coincide with the first diary entry of Winston Smith in the novel itself - 4th April - it will feature Andrew Garfield as Winston Smith, Cynthia Erivo as Julia, Andrew Scott as O’Brien, and Tom Hardy as Big Brother.

The objective of the campaign is to pull back the curtain and reveal the similarities that exist between George’s dystopia and modern Britain. Activations will highlight themes such as Doublethink and Censorship that will captivate and resonate with fans old and new.

To build anticipation pre-launch, Digital Cinema Media (DCM) indents will cause dystopian disruption with Winston Smith (Andrew Garfield) issuing a warning that 1984 is coming. Ten second glitchverts will distort showings of Dune 2 in DCM and Pearl and Dean cinemas nationwide, these will be replicated across GroupM's Nexus’ Advanced TV on Broadcast Video on Demand (BVOD). The full 30 second glitchvert will launch on April 4th.

Running from the day of the launch to 11th April, across London Underground and TfL stations, Out of Home (OOH) special builds will feature an Orwellian monitor. With ‘glitching’ DOOH screens and ribbons completing the dystopian effect. Situated in the same stations will be the perfect companion - copies of Metro UK with cover wrap featuring one of the famous doublespeak lines from the story.

This will be accompanied by a Channel 4 partnership which features the C4 continuity stings again ‘glitching’ with Winston Smith’s warning, leading up to the final reveal of the hero 60-second spot featured next to Taskmaster (airing on Thursday 4th April at 9pm). This will be replicated on 4OD, with the addition of pause screens which feature a glitched 1984 hold screen, for the full dystopian experience. 

A partnership with The Guardian will lean on the key theme of censorship. A full digital print and audio takeover will feature redacted text that can be removed to reveal the doublespeak in the news. Bespoke print and digital articles will delve into the relevance of 1984 in 2024, and audio ads will run across The Guardian podcast including Today in Focus.

Finally, a mixture of premium, immersive placements and creatives across Nexus Audio, Social, Online Video, Advanced TV and Acast Podcasts have been activated to further amplify the campaign. The aim is to let people experience the scale of 1984’s production - letting them know this is 1984 as you’ve never experienced before.

Amy Meikle, head of play, at Wavemaker UK explained, “1984 is hands down the most iconic dystopian novels of all time - phrases such as ‘thought police’, ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Room 101’ all feature in our daily lives. Despite this, there are many 1984 ‘fans’ who understand its poignancy and recognise the themes of the novel but haven’t yet read the book. The high-impact media activations have been designed to capture their attention, positively provoking them to step inside and experience Orwell’s dystopia of 1984 in 2024.”

Albert Hogan, senior director, brand and content marketing, Europe added, "'The best books are those that tell you what you know already' – this disruptive ad campaign for 1984 has been designed to capture the imagination of Orwellians new and old. Re-affirming the prescience of 1984 in 2024 and letting people know there is no more relevant time to listen than right now. By collaborating with Wavemaker we’re able to ensure that audiences across the UK can be immersed in the dystopian yet eerily familiar world of 1984, without a glitch.”

Wavemaker UK was responsible for all media strategy, planning and buying. The creative has been produced by Alphabetical.