Hipcescu: City-Marketing For An Imaginary Metropolis

Recently we tweeted about a postcard that we received from a mysterious city called Hipcescu. Later we found out that this place, also known as ‘the City of a Thousand Suns’, is the brainchild of Amsterdam-based copywriter and creative director Olaf Zwetsloot.

Hipcescu is a reclusive communist city-state, located on the shores of the Caspian Sea, and ruled by V. Hipcescu, its undisputed leader of whom no known photograph exists. To attract tourists and investors from the Western world, Zwetsloot set up a serious city-marketing campaign that comprises a neat website, a print campaign and postcards, as well as a series of great slogans (some of them are really funny) and even a hymn.

That’s not where it stops. Zwetsloot has worked out the entire look-and-feel of Hipcescu, which comes to the front in series of aerial views, pictures of streetscapes. He also pin-pointed the city’s most important landmark — the iconic 850-meters high Hipcescu Tower is the most important tourist attraction. The H-shaped tower, completed in 2010, marks the definite rise of Hipcescu as a thriving 21st century metropolis.

“Visible from every angle of the city, it is a monumental tribute to comrade V. Hipcescu, our Secretary-General. And while a highly efficient state-security apparatus ensures your safety at all times, you will thoroughly enjoy our eco-friendly beaches, exciting nightlife, tax-free shopping, reliable nuclear energy sources and excellent real estate investment opportunities.”

No Summer holiday plans yet? Consider visiting Hipcescu. It takes you only four hours by plane. Eco-friendly beaches, exciting nightlife, tax-free shopping, reliable nuclear energy sources and excellent real estate investment opportunities. What are you waiting for? Click here for the most recent print ad (PDF) from the Hipcescu Ministry of Tourism and Information, or head over the website to see more of the city…