Guardian’s “unapologetic” print campaign by BBH proclaims the newspaper’s independence

Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) has created a print campaign for the Guardian newspaper to celebrate its independence. The set of typographic posters features provocative statements in bold Guardian Egyptian, the Guardian’s typeface, such as “Buy a newspaper that can’t be bought” and “No one edits our editor”, using a combination of black and a single vivid colour or white. The typeface is used in an illustrative form, says BBH, with subtle design details such as a gun crosshair and a crossed ballot paper added for extra impact.

This campaign follows the closure earlier this year of The Independent newspaper’s print edition, and the Guardian’s own announcement that it will cut budgets by 20% after a steep fall in print advertising. The newspaper remains free to read online, in contrast to some competitors.

“Unlike almost every other news outlet, the Guardian isn’t owned by shareholders who can influence news stories and push their own agendas,” says BBH, explaining the thinking behind campaign. “They are completely independent so they can ask the questions others can’t and print the stories others won’t.” The posters were therefore kept “bold, simple and stripped back as possible so the messages are clear and the tone is unapologetic.”

The creative team on the project was Carl Broadhurst, A-K Parker, George Brettell, Martha Riley, Nigel Roberts, and design was by Jim Townsend.

Other slogans on the campaign include “If we don’t print it who will?”; “If you don’t have friends in high places you don’t mind seeing them fall”; “Who uncovers the cover-ups” and “We’ve got enemies in high places”.

The campaign launched last week in the UK and will soon roll out in Australia and North America.