Outrageous phone cases are the answer

Did you know that in London, a mobile phone is stolen every 6 minutes?

That’s 250 a day. 90,864 a year.

The theft has become so rampant that people are literally getting their phones snatched right out of their hands.

And it's led many people to buy lanyards and wrist straps to prevent themselves from becoming the next victims.

Now while some brands find inspiration from the beauty of the world around them, others find it in the need to (kind of) solve problems.

JOAN London are the latter.

For the ad agency, the misfortune of Londoners has sparked a clever campaign to bring awareness to the high level of phone theft, and ways to ward off the perpetrators.

'The Unsnatchable' campaign includes a dedicated website as well as a series of creative across social media.

The work takes a light-hearted approach to the anxiety felt by Londoners by introducing thief-proof, or unsnatchable phone cases.

These include the The Original Spike, a case adorned with giant silver spikes, and Flaunt Your Gauntlet, which is a phone case connected to a metal glove you wear over your hand.

Practical? Not particularly.

Chic? Absolutely.

A fun way to address and create awareness around an epidemic that has an entire city on edge? Check, check, check.

'At JOAN, we thrive on playing in culture and bridging the intersection of society, culture, design and humor,' said JOAN London ECD, Kirsty Hathaway, 'The Unsnatchable is just that. A beautiful, if entirely impractical, solution designed to get noticed and create impact.'

Beyond showcasing these, er, impractical solutions, the website gives actual advice on how to avoid getting your phone stolen. Unsnatchable tips include making sure you can hear what's happening around you and instructions on how to remotely disable your phone if it does get stolen.

So, why does this seemingly ridiculous campaign work?

JOAN London’s tongue-in-cheek approach isn’t just about making people laugh. It's about cutting through the noise of the typical snoozefest safety PSAs that people usually tune out.

This campaign adds levity to a situation that is otherwise pretty bleak, making it both memorable and shareable.

The impracticality of the phone cases is by design. The humour isn’t in trying to make these absurd cases seem useful. It’s in the fact that they represent the ridiculous lengths one might go to to avoid the theft of their most prized possession.

It’s not about solving the issue. It’s about amplifying it through creative design.

While you won’t be able to fit The Original Spike case in your pocket without ripping your jeans, you'll definitely turn heads—and isn’t that half the battle?

JOAN London’s creative philosophy centres on merging cultural insight, design, and humour to create campaigns that resonate beyond traditional advertising.

They aim to 'play in culture' by engaging with societal trends, everyday problems, or current events in a way that feels authentic and culturally relevant.

The idea is to craft work that doesn’t just sell a product or service. Instead, it sparks conversation, evokes emotion, and has a clear point of view on the world.

Campaigns like 'The Unsnatchable’ showcase the agency’s belief that marketing should be more than just selling. It should provoke thought, entertain people, and hopefully spark a little change.

As marketers, we should think about how to fit into broader conversations with our campaigns – as ‘The Unsnatchable’ does with urban safety. It may not actually stop thieves, but it sure gets people talking about the frequency and severity of phone theft.

I mean I’m talking about it right now, in New Zealand, 18,325 km away.

That’s because humour can sometimes do what fear-based messaging can't--cut through the apathy and actually engage people in a conversation.

-Sophie, Writer