Our parody advertisement reignited The Economist’s light bulb billboard in the satirical style that Mad Magazine is famous for by flipping the reference ad on its head.The light bulb on The Economist billboard lit up when pedestrians walked underneath, while the light bulb on our Mad Magazine billboard would go out when people walked under our advertisement.

We achieved this by setting up a motion sensor, that turned the light off as people walked passed it, giving the illusion that they had short circuited the light as well as their intelligence because of their exposure to Mad Magazine.

Our billboard helped Mad Magazine to gain popularity amongst adult readers. Online coverage of our advertisement also brought the magazine to people’s attention worldwide.

The German Mad Magazine editorial department received several letters to the Editor sharing their appreciation for the witty billboard. Two weeks after our billboard’s release German subscription sales showed an increase.