Visa: The Feathered Lamb

The Art of the Bait

To ensure the campaign felt authentic, the agency operated under the alias « Petit Pamplemousse ». This unbranded account seeded surreal AI-generated imagery, such as a lamb covered in feathers and a dog operating a vehicle, into social feeds. By bypassing traditional corporate branding, the team successfully mimicked the erratic, high-engagement content often used by bot farms and bad actors to lure unsuspecting users. This two-week seeding phase was critical, allowing the team to gather real-time data on how quickly users would engage with—and believe—synthetic content.

Turning the Tables on Fraud

The campaign’s effectiveness relied on a personalized feedback loop. Rather than a generic broadcast, users who interacted with the fake posts were served a direct message containing a reveal video. This immediate, one-to-one interaction served as a "teachable moment," transforming the user from a potential victim into an informed participant. This strategy resulted in an engagement rate of 24%, a figure that vastly outperformed standard social media benchmarks.

A New Standard for Cybersecurity

The initiative was driven by Julian Clobus and Juan Herrera-Ramirez of Visa France, who aimed to address the 1,265% surge in phishing reported in 2025. By shifting the focus from fear-based warnings to cognitive muscle memory, the campaign proved that consumers are more likely to retain security best practices when they have safely experienced the mechanics of a scam firsthand. This approach has since been cited as a landmark case study for how brands can use generative AI to combat the very threats it creates.