Chess. Couple.

The solution came from a minimal idea: to pay tribute to the universal fear that The Birds instilled in the collective imagination. That involuntary gesture of looking up at the sky, even when there’s nothing there.

The campaign was built around two audiovisual pieces, Chess and Couple, structured almost identically: everyday scenes, few characters, and tension that seeps in without explanation. In Chess, a game reaches its most decisive moment, but no one looks at the board. In Couple, an intimate argument unfolds while both protagonists keep their gaze fixed on something we cannot see. In both cases, the threat never appears on screen—it is only implied through sound.

Set in different contexts—an American suburb in the 1980s and Paris in 1968—the pieces traverse eras to underline the same idea. For over 60 years, Hitchcock taught us to fear what comes from the sky. A shared, recognizable, and deeply cinematic fear.

The decision not to subtitle the pieces reinforces this approach. The viewer’s attention is drawn to faces, to unwavering gazes, to the silent discomfort. Suspense is constructed through suggestion, tone, and detail.
 
 
Case developed by CHINA, part of LLYC.