---
title: Why piracy PSAs often fail spectacularly
description: A new report looks at why anti-piracy ads didn’t work and, in some cases, probably led to more pirating.
---

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# [Why piracy PSAs often fail spectacularly](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/08032022-piracy-psas)

 Written by [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) | Aug 3, 2022 9:58:04 AM

In 2004, a [PSA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmZm8vNHBSU) from the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and Intellectual Property Office of Singapore reminded viewers that pirating movies was a crime.

Set to The Prodigy-esque heist music, it infamously compared downloading a film to stealing a car. It became a widely mocked [meme](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/piracy-its-a-crime)…

#### **… but likely failed to deter pirates**

A new report from the ESSCA School of Management explores why such ads are often counterproductive, per [TorrentFreak](https://torrentfreak.com/you-wouldnt-steal-research-shows-why-many-anti-piracy-messages-fail-220730/).

- **Many don’t see it as theft.** It’s called file *sharing*.
- **Messaging is too extreme. **It’s reasonable to compare downloading a movie to stealing a DVD — not to grand theft auto.
- **They’re not relatable. **People might be deterred by malware warnings, but an Indian PSA featuring Bollywood stars — who are worth up to 200k times the nation’s annual per capita income — failed to garner sympathy.
- **Declaring piracy** a widespread issue implies everyone’s doing it. So, why not you?

Additionally, PSAs often screen in movie theaters for a paying audience. Pirates just edit them out, [per](https://www.vice.com/en/article/93aan8/widely-mocked-anti-piracy-ads-made-people-pirate-more-study-finds) *Vice*.

#### **Piracy PSAs aren’t alone**

Teens who went through DARE were typically able to [call bullshit](https://www.vox.com/2014/9/1/5998571/why-anti-drug-campaigns-like-dare-fail) on exaggerated claims about drug use, and, in some cases, were [more likely](https://www.livescience.com/33795-effective.html) to try drugs later in life.

**BTW: **British series “The IT Crowd” did a [gross-out parody](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALZZx1xmAzg&t=60s) of the anti-piracy ad.

[View full post](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/08032022-piracy-psas)

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