To spark a new, less scary public health conversation about hearing loss with zero paid budget, Specsavers turned one of the most famously misheard songs into the world’s first mass hearing test by re-recording Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up with the lyrics people have been mishearing for years, then ‘Rick-Rolling’ the UK by releasing it without explanation to make Brits question their ears. Driving a national conversation around hearing loss, over 20 million organic social plays in 8 hours, blanket media coverage and a 1220% above target increase in Specsavers hearing test bookings.

In the UK, Brits avoid hearing tests because the current cultural conversation around hearing loss is linked to old age and loss. UK hearing healthcare campaigns have traditionally targeted this 'fear of loss' to prompt action and get hearing tested. However, it has had the opposite effect - making people tune out and ignore the issue because it just feels too scary. As a result of these cultural trends, in 2023, the UK public had their heads firmly in the sand about hearing loss. No one wanted to hear about it.

However, looking more broadly at UK culture, 'Mishearing' is a fundamental source of humour that connects people though shared experience. We've all experienced the humour of Mishearing at some point. It's warm. It's engaging. Everyone recognises it. It's no surprise UK comedy has focused on it to drive humour in jokes, shows and films.

We had found our UK cultural insight: 'In the UK, 'Hearing loss' is isolating, but 'mishearing' is connecting’.

Specsavers - as a champion of using humour to talk about health issues in a new way - saw that there was an opportunity to use this cultural insight to create serious healthcare change, not just deliver a laugh.

In 2023, Brits were avoiding hearing tests for up to 10 years due to stigma around hearing loss; resulting in reduced quality of life and feelings of isolation.

But this is much more significant than a hearing problem. Hearing loss is linked to heart conditions, cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, and other chronic diseases including diabetes and high blood pressure. Regular hearing screenings can show warning signs of these medical conditions, helping you get the required care sooner.

Specsavers - a brand normally associated with eyecare - needed to change the trajectory of hearing test engagement to save not just hearing, but also protect long-term public health.

Our brief was to create an idea that reimagined the public health awareness campaign model to increase hearing test bookings by 5% among our core target audience of 40 – 60 year olds and their ‘peer influencers’ aged aged 25 – 40 year old.

The Misheard Version: The World’s First Mass Hearing Test. As no one wants to listen to a normal hearing test, we turned one of the world’s most famously misheard songs into a mass hearing test the nation couldn’t ignore.

In October 2023, Specsavers partnered with Rick Astley to re-record “Never Gonna Give You Up’ with lyrics the public have been mishearing for years. Including ‘Then I’m going to run around with dessert spoons’ , ‘You wouldn’t catch nits from any other guy’ and ‘your aunt’s been naked’ among others.

Then Specsavers rick-rolled the nation's ears. Releasing The Misheard Version without explanation or branding across social media and radio. As TikTok organic views of Rick's tease post reached 20m in 8 hrs, Specsavers revealed their campaign across earned & social – with Rick announcing his own hidden hearing loss & new hearing aids across blanket media coverage tackling hearing loss stigma.

Our insight for the idea was ‘Hearing loss is isolating, but mishearing is connecting’.

To cut-through the fear around hearing loss, and engage our target audiences of 40 – 60 year olds and their ‘peer influencers’ aged 25 – 40 year old, our strategy was to create a disruptive cultural ‘mishearing moment’ which tested public their hearing in an entertaining way; acting as the world’s first ‘mass hearing test’.

Reimagining something famous in culture through the lens of 'mishearing' to create a central piece of content which could be teased on social to create a huge public reaction - with this drama then folded into the reveal and launch earned media story; giving every channel a quirky newshook, entertaining content, access to talent, audiology experts and a serious public health story; all in one.

All driving our key message: "Hearing loss is normal. Everyone mishears - just test your ears"

At launch, we ‘Rick-Rolled’ the nations ears by releasing The Misheard Version without explanation or branding across social, causing the world to start talking.

As conversation peaked, with TikTok views of rick's tease post reaching 20m organic in 8 hrs, Specsavers revealed their campaign – with Rick announcing his own hidden hearing loss and journey to getting his first hearing aids on TikTok and iconic TV shows including ITV, Sky News and This Morning. Radio news played The Misheard Version as show hosts celebrated its humour and healthcare goal, while digital media coverage directed people to credible, educational video content on Meta, X and Youtube featuring audiologists talking in-depth with Rick to help destigmatise hearing loss and hearing aids. Ultimately driving people to click through to book a hearing test with Specsavers. Print coverage completed the picture - driving people to find out more.

BUSINESS IMPACT: Achieved a 1220% above target increase in hearing test bookings (66% increase vs 5% target), a feat unparalleled in Specsavers' history and among its competitors. With a 16% year-on-year increase in sales of hearing aid and hearing care products nationwide.

CULTURAL IMPACT: The campaign generated a nationwide discourse on hearing loss, securing coverage from 95% of mainstream news outlets and over 400 pieces of organic media, with a reach of over 100 million. Featured prominently in top-tier digital, broadcast and print media such as The Guardian, Daily Mail, Sky News, Lorraine, This Morning, and ITV news. With no paid media budget, The Misheard Version achieved over 20 million organic social post views within 8 hours, with Rick's teaser becoming his most viewed post ever. Creating outstanding engagement with 28.2 million organic social reach, 95 million impressions, and 4 million interactions. Driving a 138% surge in search traffic for Specsavers audiology services, with "Specsavers," "hearing," & "hearing aids" trending on Google search during launch. As well as a 13% rise in the perception of Specsavers as experts in hearing care and ear health. And a 4% reduction in people feeling stigma about wearing a hearing aid following the awareness push.

'Mishearing' is a source of humour that connects people though shared experience.

We've all experienced the humour of 'Mishearing'. It's warm. It's engaging. Every human recognises it. The mishearing of song lyrics is an especially established part of memes and jokes on and offline.

Specsavers - as a champion of using humour to talk about health issues in a new way - saw that there was an opportunity to use this cultural insight to create serious healthcare change, not just deliver a laugh. Our campaign was a joke with a serious punchline.

The humour of 'mishearing' was the perfect antidote to the scary, alienating coldness of 'hearing loss'. By using it to hold a mirror up to the UK public, we aimed to create laughter that helped lighten the mood of this medical conversation. Highlighting that everyone mishears. That it's funny, part of everyday life and not to be feared.