MADRID BOOKSELLERS: MADRID BOOKSELLERS

Credits & Description:

Brand MADRID BOOKSELLERS
DDB SPAIN Madrid, Spain Entrant Company
DDB SPAIN Madrid, Spain Idea Creation
THE CROWD CAVE Barcelona, Spain Production
QMS COMUNICACION Madrid, Spain PR
Jose María Roca de Viñals DDB Spain Chief Creative Officer
Daniel Rodríguez DDB Spain Executive Creative Director
Nerea Cierco DDB Spain Executive Creative Director
Alfredo Vaz DDB Spain Executive Creative Director
Tamara Martín DDB Spain Art Director
José Herrera DDB Spain Art Director
Roberto González DDB Spain Art Director
Héctor Alfonso DDB Spain Copywriter
José Sueiro DDB Spain Editor
Gabriela Castro DDB Spain Account Supervisor
Israel Ortiz DDB Spain Technical Director
URL: https://findingfariña.com
Synopsis
For the first time in 40 years,the Spanish authorities censured a novel,something unheard of since democracy was established. The book in question, Fariña,is an essay about drug smuggling whose plot features a politician involved in corruption and drug trafficking. This politician lodged a complaint against the author of the book and,taking advantage of his contacts,managed to censure it. The book’s prohibition, which raised indignation in public opinion,was complete: its distribution was forbidden in all types of retail areas; it was censured on Amazon and disappeared from all e-commerce websites,making it impossible to buy. They literally wiped it off the map. To confront this situation,the Madrid Booksellers,who could not distribute the book, got in contact with us to search for a way of helping Spaniards to read the banned text.The aim was to leverage a loophole in the law using ingenuity to achieve the highest number of readers of this novel.

Strategy
A number of research studies have revealed that 80% of the Spanish population have shown their opposition to the censorship of the book. Analyzing their reactions on social media, it became increasingly evident that there was a need for someone to offer these users some way of being able to read it. This was our target, and we managed to reach them through the creation of a website that quickly went viral across the social networks. The digital platforms were our channel for amplifying the impact of the website, since through them we could activate millions of people to gain access to the banned text. All in just a few days.

Relevancy
Following the unfair prohibition of the novel Fariña, millions of people in Spain were unable to read this book. Censorship prevented an entire nation from having access to this text, and our campaign managed to activate all those millions of readers to discover a way of reading it. The spirit of the Madrid Booksellers was always to bring as many stories as possible to their readers and not deny them the experience of reading “Fariña”, despite this being a banned book.

Outcome
The campaign notched up 168,578,385 impacts transforming an unknown local problem into a global movement in defense of freedom of expression. The original book was read by only 47.483 people since its publication. Once banned, in only 12 days, 217.447 people read the censured book using our engine. People from 133 different countries visited the website, the media repercussion generated 3,070, 864 euros in earned media in TV, radio and online media, with a website production cost of only 6,000 euros. The media impact forced the Spanish authorities to take unprecedented measures in the history of Spanish democracy on having to ban our website only 12 days after it had been launched. Beyond activating millions of users/readers, the campaign managed to ignite their fighting spirit, creating a movement that changed their perception regarding what the law should allow people to do in the digital era.

Execution
The website featured an engine that contrasted Fariña against Don Quijote in real time using a customized algorithm for that purpose. The algorithm sought out the 80,049 words from Fariña that are present in Don Quijote, and constructed the modern terms not found in the original Cervantes work with the use of syllables. The website was rolled out on 15 March and was active in Spanish and in English on a global level for 12 days until Spanish authorities were finally obliged to ban the book given its impact on 27 March.

Campaign Description
Having prohibited its sale and distribution, reading the book became impossible…until Finding Fariña emerged. This was a website that made it possible for all Spaniards to read the banned book in a way that did not run legal risks: using Don Quijote. We created a digital engine that searched for the 80,049 words that made up the novel Fariña, but within the pages of Don Quijote. Once found, the engine reordered the words and allowed readers to read the banned novel, but by means of Don Quijote. Basically, what the website did was create a new reading itinerary inside of Spain’s most important book, rescuing a banned text from censorship and giving millions of readers their rights back. The tool quickly went viral across all social media networks and digital platforms, enabling users everywhere to read what was essentially a banned book.