Klarna launches "myth-busting" consumer ad campaign

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
May 13, 2021

Klarna has launched a quirky ad campaign to help consumers discover the truth about the global payments and shopping service brand.

In league with Spanish contemporary artist Ignasi Monreal, Klarna has taken a playful approach to putting consumers straight on a number of "misconceptions" about the brand.

The buy-now-pay-later finance provider, which claims over 14 million UK customers and 13,000 retailers, is “taking a bold and unapologetic approach to the critics, sceptics and curious” by answering some of the questions “on everything from their brand, average age and even the company name”. 

To “discover the truth”, Klarna has partnered with Monreal, known for his collaborations with Gucci, Vogue and Netflix, to create a series of seven pieces of artwork - each based on a misconception seen online or in the media. 

The paintings, digitally designed by in the artist’s Rome studio, are a mix of “classical and contemporary for a 21st Century renaissance feel”. 

Via the artworks, Klarna invites consumers to enter a mythical world online where they can play a 'Mythbuster challenge', or by visiting murals located in cities around the UK, including London, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. 

In London, consumers can visit the murals in Shoreditch or Notting Hill where they can scan the QR code within the painting. Once scanned on a smartphone camera, consumers are directed to a digital gallery and are "virtually immersed into the paintings". 

For each artwork, a challenge is posed and the answers are hidden within the visuals inside of the painting. Consumers who take part in the game have the chance to win one of four prizes, including a Design Classics bundle, a Weekend stay at Claridges, and a £10,000 donation to the hygiene poverty charity Beauty Banks in the winner’s name. 

AJ Coyne, head of Marketing, said: “Transparency is everything to us at Klarna and for too long misconceptions have existed about our brand, so we decided the best way to address this was head on and invite consumers to discover the truth". 

Coyne added: “Given the ridiculous nature of the myths, we decided to create some epic mythical paintings and display them proudly across the UK. That said, a traditional media approach is not sufficient to change behavior, so instead we’re inviting consumers to debunk in real time via our interactive experience and discover the truth for themselves”.