Since this behavior was taking place online, we created the first-ever interactive ad that uses reCAPTCHA recognition technology as a communication platform to spread our message.

By using the same mechanism we interact with on a day-to-day basis to prove to websites we are not artificial bots, our audience identified the artificial Volkswagen parts to verify authenticity. Communicating our message of choosing original parts, we strategically targeted a medium where people are most likely to be tempted to buy fake alternatives.

To implement our message through the reCAPTCHA platform, we presented our audience with an image of a Volkswagen car through the 16 tiles of the platform, and left one tile mismatched with an unoriginal part. We created a series of these ads using various Volkswagen car models with different mismatched parts for each.

Users were then asked to spot and select the unoriginal tiles in order to access the next page of the site, reminding them that fake parts are not always this easy to spot and leading people to the only place where they can be secure in the knowledge that they are getting original parts – the VW dealership.

We made customers think twice before purchasing unoriginal car parts, changing people's behavior at the moment of purchase. The campaign increased online engagement by 13.9%, and awareness of original parts increased 2 fold.