| Title | Coffee is not a drug |
| Brief | The dark web is notorious for clandestine and nefarious goods and services. So why is a specialty coffee company marketing and selling its dark roast here? Cooperative Cherniy decided to play off the Russian perception that coffee is bad for the health and associate the product with the dark web culture. Through banner ads on dark web forums, the “first legal product advertised on the darknet” reached 10,000 people within the first hour and 1.5 million in the first day. Why is a speciality coffee company marketing and selling its dark roast on the dark web? Playing off the Russian perception that coffee is bad for the health, Chernyi decided associate to their product with the dark web culture and become the “first legal product advertised on the darknet.” |
| Agency | Possible |
| Campaign | Coffee is not a drug |
| Advertiser | Chernyi Cooperative |
| Brand | Moscow Black |
| Date of First Broadcast/Publication | 2016 / 12 |
| Business Sector | Coffee, Tea, Chocolate Drinks, Breakfast Drinks |
| Story | In Russia, people believe that coffee is a drug and that drinking it is bad for your health. Chernyi Cooperative, a coffee company in Moscow, strived to create a campaign that turned this misconception on its head, and teamed up with POSSIBLE to do just that. Enter the "coffee is not a drug" campaign, the first legal product advertisement on the darknet. We created a shop for the Chernyi Cooperative to sell their coffee on Tor, the anonymous communication network. The shop operates at cherniyx23pmfane.onion. Once their Bitcoins or the Qiwi payment goes through, buyers receive coordinates as to the whereabouts of their stash. Confronting coffee’s illicit stereotype on a platform that is known for drug trafficking, one bag at a time. |
| Media Type | Case Study |
| Length | |
| Creative Director | Vlad Sitnikov |
| Concept | Maxim Fedorov |
| Copywriter | Maxim Fedorov |
| Copywriter | Artem Trofimov |
| Art Director | Anton Vodogreev |
| Illustrator | Anton Vodogreev |
| Illustrator | Stas Vasiliev |
| Digital Producer | Ivan Bormotov |
| Digital Producer | Kirill Nikitin |
| Director | Artur Miroshnichenko |
| Music | Sounds Like A Plan |
| Music | Bad Zu |
| Music | Filipp Alexandrov |