Book banning in U.S. schools and libraries has reached unprecedented levels.

As the publisher of one of the most banned books of all time — Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale — Penguin Random House wanted to make a clear statement against censorship.

With officials across the U.S. engaging in censorship and even threatening to burn books, we asked one simple question: What if they couldn’t?

The result was the Unburnable Book, a one-of-a-kind edition of The Handmaid’s Tale specially designed to be impossible to burn. The Unburnable Book served as a powerful and tangible symbol of the indestructibility of words and ideas.

Our campaign objectives were to:

Raise awareness about the rise of book bans in schools and libraries and the threat to freedom of expression

Generate meaningful international press coverage and conversation on the topic

Raise funds to support the efforts of PEN America

The Unburnable Book campaign launched at the PEN America Literary Gala in Manhattan — where an audience of literary and journalistic luminaries watched the premiere of the Unburnable Book video. The audience roared with applause when Ms. Atwood appeared on screen with her flamethrower. The book was presented and the Sotheby’s auction was declared open.

The Unburnable Book and the image of Margaret Atwood attempting to burn it with a flamethrower became an international phenomenon, earning 12 billion organic impressions — sparking astonishment, debate and a great deal of support for our client’s position on freedom of expression. The advertising value equivalency of the campaign was $35 million with no media spend.

The Unburnable Book succeeded in raising US$130,000 in support of PEN America’s important anti-censorship work. Most importantly, the campaign helped land a book that censors wanted to ban back on bestsellers lists.

Book banning in U.S. schools and libraries has reached unprecedented levels — particularly books that address themes of racism, gender, and sexual orientation. Emboldened by an increasingly polarized political environment, some elected officials have even suggested burning books deemed “inappropriate.”

Between July 2021 and March 2022, a PEN America report identified 1,145 instances of individual titles being banned, impacting the literary, scholarly and creative work of 1,081 people in total. These book bans have occurred in 86 different U.S. school districts, representing 2,899 schools — and over 2 million students. According to the American Library Association, there were 681 attempts to ban or restrict library resources in the first eight months of 2022.

Beyond the volume of titles being removed, of particular concern to anti-censorship advocates is the manner in which the bans are happening — often suddenly and without transparent, unbiased processes in place.

One of the most banned books of all time is Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale which is published by Penguin Random House. Ms. Atwood is also a long-time advocate and leader within the PEN International community, which made for a deeply integrated story.