Campaign highlights annoying Captchas with street media campaign

World, the privacy-first digital ID platform, has teamed up with global agency Iris Worldwide to turn one of the internet’s most hated rituals – the captcha – into a creative outdoor statement.

The “Real World Captchas” campaign launched today, with massive, IRL captcha grids popping up in Singapore, Berlin, and Buenos Aires.

Placed in front of everyday objects like traffic lights and fire hydrants, the installations mimic frustrating online captchas (yes, even the dreaded square that barely touches the bike).

Each one challenges passersby to rethink how we prove we’re human online and introduces World ID, a bot-busting alternative.

Created by Iris’ UK and Singapore teams, the work taps into digital fatigue and reframes it with a cheeky, high-impact twist.

John Patroulis, Chief Marketing Officer, Tools For Humanity, a contributor to World, said: “Proving you’re human is becoming increasingly important online—but the ways we do it are increasingly irritating and, even worse, ineffective. World ID is a simple and anonymous proof of humanity built for the age of AI. To make people aware of it, we reminded them just how ridiculous the current method actually is. The best ideas are simple and surprising. With real world captchas, we’re trying to capture attention with something as playful as it is provocative.”

Menno Kluin, Global Chief Creative Officer, Iris Worldwide, added: “For years, we’ve tolerated captchas as a necessary evil. This campaign challenges that mindset. We’ve taken something people are used to ignoring online and dropped it into the real world to make it unmissable. It’s a disruptive creative device with a clear message: there’s a better way.”

Advertising COOH Technology