June and Karpi land viral coup for Fotomuseum Winterthur
To mark the reopening of the Winterthur Photo Museum, June Corporate Communications teamed up with AI artist Patrick «Karpi» Karpiczenko to create a satirical video portraying Switzerland as a hoax. The campaign garnered over 6 million views organically. Numerous media outlets also covered the story.
A video by artist and AI expert "Karpi" went viral on Sunday with the provocative claim "Switzerland is fake". Two days later, the resolution follows: the campaign is part of the communication for the reopening of the Fotomuseum Winterthur - designed and implemented by the Zurich agency June Corporate Communications.
6 million organic views
The aim of the campaign was to generate attention in social and traditional media for the reopening of the Fotomuseum after around two years of renovations. And it succeeded: within just 48 hours, the video achieved over 3.9 million views - purely organically. In the meantime, it already has over 6 million views.
Patrick Karpiczenko, who wrote and produced the video, is overwhelmed by the positive feedback: "I find the numerous Swiss people who deny their own existence in the comments particularly funny. I'm pleased that many people who otherwise have no use for AI-generated art see the sense and purpose here." The video was also picked up in the media in many places - for example at the View, the Daily Gazette and with 24 heures.
An invitation to think critically about images
"Switzerland is fake" serves as a thematic springboard for the opening exhibition "The Lure of the Image - How Images on the Net Entice". The campaign not only draws attention to the reopening of the Fotomuseum Winterthur on May 17, 2025 - it is also an appeal to take a critical look at images online. "The Fotomuseum Winterthur is a place where we can enjoy thinking critically about how images shape our perception of reality," explains Director Nadine Wietlisbach.
June Corporate Communications was responsible for the creative concept, strategic planning and implementation of the campaign. The Zurich agency deliberately played with the means and mechanisms of modern disinformation. The aim was to create social and media resonance in order to draw attention to the reopening of the Fotomuseum Winterthur. And to highlight the opportunities that the Fotomuseum Winterthur offers the public to actively engage with the stories that images tell us today.
"Using humorous and satirical means to caricature the reality of communication that we encounter on social media every day was both challenging and instructive. The heartfelt discussions with the Fotomuseum Winterthur and with Karpi about the opportunities and limits of visual communication were incredibly inspiring for us as an agency," says Marco Meroni, Co-Managing Director at June Corporate Communications.
