WhatsApp tries to soothe privacy concerns with a new global campaign 

‘Message Privately’ focuses on the importance of keeping messages on the app, private.

“What brought them together, with end-to-end encryption, only they know.”

This line is from Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp’s new global privacy campaign, titled ‘Message Privately’.

Dubbed ‘Double Date’, the first of the three ads from the campaign features a double date, where one couple frequently interrupts the other. Exhausted and annoyed, the poor couple WhatsApp each other under the table and share a smile.

The campaign is the brainchild of advertising agency BBDO. It will first release in the UK and Germany, and then in Mexico, India and Indonesia.

In a pinned thread on its Twitter profile, WhatsApp reiterated its protection to user privacy.

WhatsApp is built to protect your private messages with end-to-end encryption. So only the people you've messaged can read or listen to your conversation. 🤫

— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) June 13, 2021

“WhatsApp is built to protect your private messages with end-to-end encryption. So, only the people you've messaged can read or listen to your conversation,” read the first tweet from the thread.

“We know how important privacy is to our users. This year, as a company, we’ve seen first-hand how we created a bit of confusion and uncertainty for our users, how concerned they were about their privacy and the worry that people might be reading their messages,” Eshan Ponnadurai, WhatsApp’s director of brand and consumer marketing told Marketing Week.

‘Message Privately’ is undoubtedly a conciliatory response to the global outrage WhatsApp faced earlier this year because of its new privacy update.

The messaging app had revealed, as a condition for use, that it would share certain user data with Facebook, sparking fears the social media giant would use the sensitive data to target WhatApp’s users with ads.

Use Signal

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 7, 2021

The backlash worked in favour of rival messaging apps, such as Telegram and Signal. The latter saw a record number of downloads after Tesla and Space X head honcho Elon Musk tweeted, “Use Signal”.

Also Read: WhatsApp takes out front page ads to reassure users about privacy policy

To abate the negativity at that time, WhatsApp took out front-page ads in Indian newspapers, where it tried to capture what the new privacy policy does and what it does not.

It also published a blog post on its website, where it tried to defend the end-to-end encryption of messages, and reinforced the company’s commitment to protecting people’s privacy and security.

In 2018, WhatsApp had released its first India-specific ad to teach its users how to and how not to use the app. The campaign, made by Taproot Dentsu and executed by Oink Films, dealt with the propagation of fake news on the app.

Also Read: “Mind your own business” belts out Apple in new film that takes the promise of privacy ahead

Recently, Apple released an ad touting its app tracking transparency (ATT) feature that was part of the recently released iOS 14.5 update. Facebook was left fuming at this feature.