There’s always an insight that lights the fuse. The one for this specific firework show was this:

CONSUMER INSIGHT: Couch Conspirators are tired from the rigid 9-5 and long for an escape from real-world repercussions. 

BRAND INSIGHT: Secret Hitler allows players to immerse themselves in a new role and entertain their inner liar through the thrill of deceit.

A campaign wouldn’t become a campaign without the strategy. Without it, it’s just another edgy idea that sounds cool until someone asks, “But why?”

For this campaign, we grounded everything in a clear, culture-rooted approach:

STRATEGY:
Get Couch Conspirators to ditch the buttoned up nine-to-five and indulge in the deception of Secret Hitler.

This is where things get twisted. A campaign built around one unapologetic truth:
Secret Hitler is for liars.

We didn’t try to sanitize the brand, and instead, we let it go full villain. The campaign leaned into suspicion, betrayal, and backstabbing as the selling points. Because in a world full of polite small talk and LinkedIn energy, this game lets you lie to your friends and feel incredibly good about it.

The aesthetic? Dark. The humor? Sharp. The tone? Bold enough to make grandma uncomfortable.

This wasn’t just a game night pick. It was a release. A rebellion.
A beautifully chaotic reminder that sometimes the best version of you… is a little bit evil.

This campaign research pushed me to get comfortable with the uncomfortable — and honestly, I loved it.

Secret Hitler isn’t a safe brand, and that meant the strategy couldn’t be safe either. I had to lean into the strange, the dark, the morally questionable — and still ground everything in insight. It taught me that good strategy doesn’t mean making things palatable. It means making them work. Even (especially) when they make people raise an eyebrow.

I learned how to take an idea that could easily be dismissed as “too weird” and make it undeniable by rooting it in cultural truth, a clear audience need, and a tone that didn’t flinch. I also saw how powerful it can be when a team embraces the odd together, where boldness is collaborative, not chaotic.

This project reminded me that there’s room in advertising for the strange, the sharp, and the subversive. In fact, it’s often the unusual that ends up being the most unforgettable.