Bankrobber Creates Head-Turning NYC Takeover for Webtoon Sensation Everything is Fine

Jul. 21, 2022

On July 8, oversized catheads converged on Washington Square Park in New York and Bedford Avenue and Domino Park in Brooklyn to carry out routine daily activities in a one-day street stunt designed by Brooklyn-based experiential agency Bankrobber. The activation promoted S2 of WEBTOON's Everything is Fine from Mike Birchall, one of WEBTOON's premier titles with over 48.3 million views and 1 million subscribers.

The catheaded characters engaged in performances and quotidian activities throughout the park during the day. Park-goers encountered the characters doing chores like participating in tai-chi class, walking a dog, carrying boxes and more. Throughout the day the characters eyes would periodically turn red to mimic the comics’s surveillance plot, only to return to their commonplace activities minutes later.

Bankrobber also worked with vendor New York Cake Pops to create cathead pops, which were dispensed from a real-life replica of the comic’s tiny home. A QR code appeared on a sticker on the back of each pop so recipients can link to the series. Comic characters are seen on sandwich boards, sinister CCTV surveillance cameras seem to follow characters, and signs echo lines from the show ("Everything is fine," "They are watching.") Street stencils spout positive messages such as "The birds are singing" and "the sun is shining."

WEBTOON® is the world's largest digital comics platform, home to some of the biggest artists, IP, and fandoms in comics. The company pioneered the mobile vertical scroll format for digital comics, known as webtoons around the world. 

The activation was aimed at echoing the pop up experience Netflix created for its massive hit Squid Game, a South Korean series set in a dystopian world where individuals are forced to compete in deadly children’s games to win cash prizes. The Squid Game activation was implemented by Bankrobber in Los Angeles’ Koreatown and attracted hundreds of show fans.

The WEBTOON app is free to download on Android and iOS devices.