Netflix Censors an Ad (and Wins a Clio)

Netflix’s Narcos features a lot of sex, guns and drugs. So how did Netflix make it popular in a heavily censored market like Thailand, which pixels out sex, guns and drugs? They maliciously complied! After an independent consultant told Netflix they’d have to cut out anything racy in their Narcos ads to promote in Thailand, Netflix “photoshopped” out offensive images to create a censored trailer and billboard with checkered backgrounds that left no mystery as to what had been censored. The campaign racked up 93 million views and reached 34 million people—nearly half of Thailand’s population! The takeaway: censorship equals more appealing.