A music video starring Polish DJ and producer VTSS, who finds herself haunted by doppelgängers, is a Deutsche Telekom PSA campaign about safeguarding one’s digital identity. The music video’s aesthetic resembles producer Hudson Mohawke’s work with Charli XCX, whose huge Gen Z fan base this campaign sought to reach.
Each doppelgänger is a manifestation of the digital self slipping out of control and showing up everywhere, acting as a metaphor for how quickly a person’s online identity can be duplicated, distorted and exploited.
The track, “Can’t Catch Me,” was composed by VTSS and producer Hudson Mohawke, known for his work with Charli XCX.
The video’s Gen Z brain-rot aesthetic was brought to life by agency Ingo and Paris-based directing duo Shadrinsky, known for their work with MSCHF and Jean Paul Gaultier.
The music video serves as a content engine for a wider campaign themed #OwnYourWorld, with memes and short-form videos cut from the longer piece that explain the dangers of digital identity theft. These assets are hosted at ownyourworld.online, where VTSS appears in short videos that show how personal data can be cloned and monetized in opaque ways.
“We all agreed that to really resonate with the discerning audience that is Gen Z, the brand would have to show up differently than it had previously. This brain-rot inspired campaign is configured for social media and is about as far away from your typical big corporation ‘ad campaign’ as it is possible to be. I’m still pinching myself that Shadrinsky agreed to make it for us,” Daniel Fisher, global chief creative officer of Ingo, said.
#OwnYourWorld launched with a live performance by VTSS in Vienna on 16 July, timed with the release of the new single.
The campaign will run in multiple international markets, leveraging both mass media and hyper-targeted digital content to drive conversation and education around online self-protection.
“The ability to own your identity online should be a fundamental right. We know that knowledge is power. That’s why we are providing Gen Z with the knowledge and confidence they need to ‘turn privacy mode on’ in their digital lives,” Ulrich Klenke, chief brand officer at Deutsche Telekom added.
The campaign was born from fresh Deutsche Telekom research showing that while over 90 per cent of European Gen Z-ers worry about their online privacy, fewer than 7 per cent feel very confident in protecting themselves. More than 70 per cent expressed a desire for better education on how to shield their data.
“So many of us feel this low-key anxiety about how much of us lives online, and how little control we have over it. This project creatively captures this, holding up a mirror to that experience and hopefully helping people feel seen,” VTSS added.
