Trinity Mirror launches provocative ad campaign with Jimmy Kimmel inspired 'mean tweets'

The ad campaign will roll-out during ITV’s XFactor this Saturday and will see the Daily Mirror editorial team read aloud insulting tweets, similar to the ‘mean tweet’ segments on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show, which has celebrities read aloud insulting tweets directed at them from the public.

Trinity Mirror hopes the provocative social campaign will prove popular given how successful the idea has become thanks to Jimmy Kimmel, while also giving it the chance to defend its content with the hashtag #madeuthink.

The four month long campaign has been created by creative advertising agency Quiet Storm and launches with the ‘mean tweets’ ads across TV, radio, social and print. The campaign will then extent to engage with the public by asking them questions based on the week’s news to see whether “they are as intelligent as the tabloid they criticise”.

Discussing the idea, Harris said it was “incredibly nerve wracking not having the creative in the bag and the media booked but I feel it is essential to have an authentic and responsive dialogue given our roles as a national real-time newsbrand”.

Executive creative director at Quiet Storm, Trevor Robinson, said the agency’s “brief was not to create an ad” because Trinity Mirror was “open to a provocative and authentic approach which led to the ‘mean tweets’ idea setting up the challenge for the public”.

The media buying was handled by Vizeum and the video ad kicking-off the campaign can be viewed in full above.