When you first start planning a big trip, step one will likely happen at the Google search bar. Step two might be clicking onto the images of your target destination. The North Face, in a campaign with agency Leo Burnett Tailor Made, took advantage of this consumer behavior to keep its name top of mind with travelers considering an adventure sports excursion.
What they did was replace photos for famous locations on Wikipedia with their own photos, which had The North Face brand clearly visible in them. That way the brand would appear in the top of Google image search results when consumers researched any of those locations.
A plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel! Except: they bragged about it online, and thus Wikipedia moderators took action by replacing the photos, or cropping the uploaded photos so that the logos were no longer in view …
The North Face – Top of Images →
Wikimedia Foundation: Let’s talk about The North Face defacing Wikipedia →