A campaign that
unmuted the truth

Jamal Khashoggi

Former director of Saudi Arabia's biggest newspaper, a columnist for the Whashington Post and one of the few public critics of the regime of Saudi ruler Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Living in exile for years already he was lured into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2nd ocotber 2018 to arrange paperwork for his marriage.

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Silenced by his government.

While his fiancée waited outside, Khashoggi quickly found himself in a precarious situation inside the consulate. Surrounded by several men and accompanied into a private room, they forced him to write a message to his son. "Write somthing like 'Don't worry if you cannot reach me'". To his question what they were going to do, the men replied "We will put you to sleep". A member of the hit squad is heard saying "Keep pushing" while they were suffocating Jamal Khashoggi with a plastic bag. His body was never found. All that remains is a secret voice recording, a transcript of the murder.

Four years later

An infamous moment between US president Joe Biden and Saudi crownprince Bin Salman causally fistbumping each other. Saudi Arabia faced no consequences and even strengthened its political standing, despite the CIA concluding an involvement in the murder. Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz also befriended the dictator in search of oil supply.

A campaign to
unmute the truth.

We transformed the quotes from Khashoggi’s killers into headlines designed to make a broader audience sit up and listen, linked with a promise: “true-tune.com” – the real sound experience from Saudi Arabia in true hi-res.

Amidst the major international embassies, even the Bundestag, we placed ads for our fictional headphone brand, paired with a unique offer, that led users on an unexpected journey via QR code.

Geotargeted ads reached an additional 500,000 people in only a few hours. They as well were redirected to the landingpage where a detailed version of the redord's transcript gave Jamal Khashoggi his last voice. And made RSF's mission clear. They would always fight to unmute the truth.