META AD

2022

For the final project of my Core Studio at Parsons, I decided to make an advertisement to bring awareness about Meta’s data collection. The increased usage of social media, such as Instagram, has made it impossible to function without them and be connected to the rest of the world. However, with the power tech giants like Meta hold over us, they also abuse this power for profit. One of the major revenues of Instagram is the targeted ads. By using third-party data analysis companies Meta creates profiles on each user and designates the ads that would “match” them the most.

 The ad itself is a parody of an anti-piracy ad made back in 2014 called “Piracy is a crime” . I made the ad using an old Sony Handycam to get that early 2000s visual effect. I asked my roommate, Layla, to play the role of the data “thief”. The thief has a white mask, anyone or any algorithm can be that thief. The thief represents the data collection that has been happening ever since the option of sponsored ads became available.