Sometimes the most potent brief isn't written by the client. It's written by the troll, the regulator, the competitor — handed over freely, loaded with energy, and aimed directly at you. Turn the Tables is the tactic that takes that material and redirects it: same force, opposite direction, in full public view. Here are seven creative tactics that turn the opponent's move into your campaign.
- Redirect the attack
- Corrupt the platform they rely on
- Make their fine print the ad
- Use their own ideology against them
- Respond in public with evidence
- Build the trap, catch the predator
- Flip who the monster is
1. Redirect the Attack
Take what they aimed at you — and point it back at them, in public, at scale.
Mirrors of Racism — NGO Criola, W3haus, 2015
When journalist Maria Julia Coutinho became Brazil's first Black prime-time weather broadcaster, a torrent of racist abuse flooded social media. NGO Criola collected the most vivid comments and plastered them in huge letters on billboards in five Brazilian cities — in the exact neighbourhoods where the people who posted them lived. Each billboard carried the line "Virtual racism, real consequences." W3haus then filmed passersby reacting, and posted the videos online. In one, the author of a racist post stood in front of a billboard bearing his own words and apologised to a Black woman on camera.
XP Investimentos (Grey, 2019) took the same logic to personal finance: their female investment advisor Ana Laura received sexist comments every time she posted. On International Women's Day, she replied to every one — with the exact returns they'd missed out on by ignoring her advice.
