The Emmy® and Peabody® Award-winning series South Park was returning for its 22nd season. Known for its unbelievably immediate and ruthless responses to world events, South Park folds up-to-the-minute news and pop culture icons into its episodes, dishing out social commentary and good old-fashioned ridicule along the way. To create a firestorm of conversation around South Park's return, we needed to spark outrage that the show would finally be swept up into the "cancel culture" currently swarming the entertainment industry whenever a show or celebrity says or does something deemed "politically incorrect or insensitive." So we set out to create a faux-activism campaign to make noise across all media platforms to elevate the premiere to be the must-watch TV event of the fall.

South Park has never shied away from controversy. So to stir things up, we created an arresting faux-activism campaign that was sure to spark controversy. What if South Park, viewed by some as the most offensive TV show ever created, finally crossed a line that was too far for even them to be spared from the same social media outrage that has 'taken down' so many other shows and celebrity careers already? Was it truly time to #CancelSouthPark? The key art was bold and minimalistic, leading with a giant "#CancelSouthPark," followed with the premiere date/time to pique curiosity around which inappropriate topic the show would be tackling on premiere night that would lead to a #CancelSouthPark outcry. The video campaign looked like real political ads featuring controversial topics, and stated "America Has Reached A Crossroads" before pushing the #CancelSouthPark movement. Once the creative went public, the reactions came pouring in!

We had 21 seasons' worth of viewership data heading into the planning for South Park's 22nd season premiere. We know where these viewers eat, sleep, breathe... well, maybe not all of that. But we do know what they watch, what their interests are and what markets they live in, which was more than enough to develop a sophisticated, data-driven media plan for reaching the vast South Park fan base. We leveraged all of this data to inform every single part of our marketing plan: where to run outdoor ads, what TV placements to purchase, and who to target across social media platforms. This allowed us to deliver our message directly to the doorsteps, devices and commutes of our diehard South Park fans, to in turn, drum up speculation around the #CancelSouthPark campaign.

In order to generate buzz, we developed a strategic marketing rollout that pulled various media levers to continuously fuel the flames of the #CancelSouthPark movement. We launched our campaign with outdoor ads in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago to pique curiosity – and in some cases, panic – among the masses. As outdoor ads posted, our promos started running across our own air and on entertainment networks – including high-profile placements within the Emmys, Saturday Night Live and Monday Night Football – leading to massive press pickup. With everyone buzzing about the possibility of South Park being canceled, we then launched our full multiplatform campaign to continue the momentum. Our paid social efforts, inclusive of several custom Twitter units, turned into a social media frenzy, earning over 130MM impressions and over 34MM video views across all social platforms.

The #CancelSouthPark campaign captured the attention of the press and consumers alike, and drove awareness – or, in this case, stoked fears of possible cancellation – surrounding the return of the series. While we didn't actually end up canceling South Park, our marketing campaign was a huge success for both the show and Comedy Central (U.S.). South Park premiered as the #1 Prime Cable Comedy of 2018 across Adults 18-49 and Men 18-49. It was also #1 in all of television on premiere night with Men 18-34. Socially, South Park was the #1 national Twitter trend on premiere night and ranked #1 for social activity for a Cable Comedy Episode in all day parts.