Still Free (Air Force One)

Why it works

A grainy two-minute video that surfaced online in April 2006 appeared to show hooded figures climbing the fence at Andrews Air Force Base at night, slipping past guards and dogs, and spraying the words 'Still Free' on an engine cowling of Air Force One. It was a hoax: Marc Ecko's company had rented a 747 cargo jet at San Bernardino airport in California and painted one side to look like the presidential plane. It was the first job out of Droga5, David Droga's new New York agency, and was meant to restore the graffiti credibility of Ecko's increasingly mainstream clothing brand. It is studied as an early deliberate viral hoax, designed to be argued over rather than simply watched: the Air Force checked the real plane, and the Pentagon issued three denials. Droga5 says it reached 23 million unique views in two weeks with no paid media. It shared the Cyber Grand Prix at Cannes in 2006.