Coinciding with the 35th anniversary of Rick Astley’s hit, “Never Gonna Give You Up,” and first U.S. tour since 1987, AAA Insurance capitalized on a beloved internet phenomenon. Since the mid-2000s, Rickrolling has been a staple of internet culture. So, we collaborated with Rick himself to recreate the video frame-by-frame as an homage to the original, with an InsurAAAnce (Insurance with AAA) twist. We then utilized unbranded — but well-coiffed — QR codes that led to our 2.0 version when scanned, featuring Rick. We leveraged Rick’s social to launch, garnering +100 million organic views across YouTube, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.

Home and auto insurance advertising is known for behemoth brands relying on a relentless drumbeat of spending, upwards of $600M monthly. Outspent 50:1 in media dollars, we couldn’t beat our competition in a shouting match, but we could beat them in a sharing match. Harnessing the power of the Rickrolling cultural phenomenon, we were able to create something so inherently shareable that it could reach far and wide — without an outsized media buy.

With a targeted media plan, we created an experience with unbranded QR codes, allowing us to interact with core markets directly and reach global audiences.

Objectives:

-Activate Millennials, Gen X and young Boomers in key U.S. markets with maximum media efficiency

-Boost Q3 2022 business results by 20%+ in key markets

-Increase brand awareness and discovery by increasing online searches by 20%

-Drive earned media and positive social response to achieve first-ever mass cultural recognition

Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” encapsulates everything the brand stands for: dedication, reliability and keeping promises. It’s also synonymous with the internet phenomenon of Rickrolling.

In collaboration with Rick Astley himself, and for the first time ever, we painstakingly reshot the artist’s iconic music video frame by frame with an InsurAAAnce twist. It resulted in the modern remake the internet never knew it needed: The Ultimate Rickroll.

To get the word out? We Rickrolled our audience.

In our core markets, strategically placed unbranded QR codes (well-coiffed, of course) and cryptic bit.ly links surprised and delighted unsuspecting viewers. Using large scale and unusual placements including, wallscapes, mobile truck billboards and aerial sky-typing, we used local media to launch in unexpected ways. Something people couldn’t help but share, our film quickly evolved into a global internet phenomenon.

AAA Insurance wins in trust and reputation but has extremely low brand awareness. Additionally, Millennials, Gen X and Boomers share propensity for switching from competitor insurance, meaning we could trigger consideration, and drive to a quote — by sparking their attention.

Outspent 50:1 by national competitors, InsurAAAnce’s brand message couldn’t be heard. If we couldn’t win in a shouting match, we’d have to win in a sharing match. So we harnessed the power of Rickrolling with Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” a beloved 80s song that encapsulates the brand’s values: dedication, reliability, trust. It’s also the world's most shareable meme.

True to the social phenomenon, The Ultimate Rickroll was housed on YouTube, making it as authentically shareable as the original. But, when shared, this feel-good film would extend our message.

Launching with unbranded QR codes and bit.ly links, the experience elevated a regional brand to a global phenomenon.

Music Video:

In collaboration with Rick, we took great care in replicating the video, even down to its 4:3 aspect ratio. Wardrobe for Rick was a modern match to his 1987 look, major choreography moments were replicated by dancers turned agents and each specific video location was matched to the original.

QR Launch:

A hyperlocal launch strategy was critical. Spot TV, OOH and novel/intriguing units sparked engagement with our well-coiffed QR codes in key markets. Placements were selected to be eye catching and easily scannable. We utilized innovative placements like wallscapes, mobile truck billboards, and cryptic URL skytyping.

A strategic flighting strategy was integral to positive user experience and preventing QR code novelty wear-out, especially TV. Reach and frequency analysis suggested the optimal launch phase was three weeks, and music video cutdowns extended beyond.

Within 24 hours, a new era of Rickrolling had begun. 206,000 QR scans from local media placements exploded into +100 million organic views as people shared and reposted.

Celebrities and internet personalities caught on, and our campaign landed the front page of hundreds of major publications. In total, it generated over 700 million U.S. Earned Media impressions and over 2.2 billion Global Earned Media impressions, transforming a $540,000 media buy into $36 million of earned media in the first week alone — a 65X return.

The campaign had equally impressive impact on core business metrics. Demand for AAA Insurance spiked, online searches increasing 93% and quotes increasing an astonishing 378% YoY. The surge in demand ultimately led to a 167% lift in new policies, generating an 84% increase in insurance premiums. Rick Astley saw an immediate boost in social interactions, with 20X mentions, +291% engagement and +301% impression.

“Never Gonna Give You Up” is more than an incredible song. It’s intrinsically tied to an internet phenomenon. Born in the mid 2000s, Rickrolling is an OG internet meme. Due to its staying power and incredible reach, it’s an internet culture mainstay. But while all memes are meant to be shared, Rickrolling is unique in the fact that it involves sending a seemingly innocuous link or QR code to someone who is expecting one thing but misdirecting them instead to the iconic music video. Resonating across generations, the song’s 35th anniversary, Rick’s first U.S. tour since 1987 and the original video recently reaching 1 billion YouTube views brought fresh excitement this year..

We created a new generation of Rickrolling by wrapping our brand messaging into a modern music video remake. Setting the spark with local activations, it spread like wildfire across the internet, carrying our brand promise with it.