How to prevent people from buying fake tickets?
How to prevent people from buying fake tickets?
This project brings a fresh approach to a government campaign for FOD Economie. The aim? To protect festivalgoers this summer from ticket scams. The FOD Economie has noticed a doubling of reports from people being scammed while buying tickets online for concerts, festivals, sporting events, and other activities.
Unfortunately, this is likely just the tip of the iceberg. "Many victims feel embarrassed or don't see the point in reporting the scam, as they’ve already lost their money. Our primary goal is to raise awareness during the upcoming festival season and prevent consumers from engaging with fraudulent ticket sellers," explains Lien Meurisse, spokesperson for FOD Economie.
To tackle this issue, we decided to dive into the world of concert and festival posters. But instead of the usual promotions, we created parodies—fake versions featuring deliberately misspelled artist names. For example, this summer’s Couleur Café becomes "Couleur Cafake" with headliners like "Justin Timberfake," "Willy Eilish," and "Lenny Tomate Krevitz."
The message is clear: while these posters are obviously fake, shady ads and fake ticket sellers often aren’t as easy to spot. That’s why we urge festivalgoers to only buy tickets through official channels.
Several Belgian festivals have backed the campaign, allowing us to spoof their posters as a way to warn their audiences about this widespread issue. These posters appeared across various platforms, including social videos, digital out-of-home displays, and banner ads on news, and contextual websites. Belgian radio presenters received fake t-shirts featuring their "favourite artists," sparking discussion on the topic. To further support the message, a festival stand showcasing fake merch from the campaign also popped up on the Suikerrock festival ground.