Polaroid’s anti-data-center campaign sparks backlash
Polaroid has launched a campaign challenging the use of digital technology, including the installation of a giant billboard bearing the message: "Go jump in some water before the data centers drink it all up" – but critics say the message is hypocritical.
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Polaroid is selling analog nostalgia by taking a swipe at AI and data centers.
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The campaign won praise from users tired of screen culture, but critics say Polaroid is attacking the same digital infrastructure its business depends on.
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By framing itself as "pro-human" rather than anti-digital, Polaroid has turned a camera launch into a culture-war flashpoint over tech, hypocrisy, and green marketing.
The controversial Coney Island installation, which rises from the sand, is part of a wider outdoor campaign running across New York, South Korea, and London.
Appearing on the London Underground and on billboard sites in east London during a particularly hot, dry spell – which saw temperatures rise to a record-breaking 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) last week – the campaign resonated with some residents.
Sharing the campaign on LinkedIn, freelance copywriter and creative strategist Dan Far said:
"Polaroid killed it with this not-so-subtle dig at a world where data centers are gobbling up natural spaces in the name of AI slop and 'efficiency,' disguised as laziness and maximizing profitability.
"Go jump in the water, without asking Claude if it's safe to do so."
Creative strategist Dan Far
“Less getting tracked, more getting lost”
Admirers on Instagram – the brand's core audience – responded to a retro-looking image of a girl perched in the top branches of a tree alongside the line: "Less getting tracked, more getting lost."
"This ad campaign is so great. I know you do this to sell your products, and I'm perfectly okay with that. Take my money. We hunger for a change, and you've completely understood the zeitgeist."
Posted by user krakesnurr on Polaroid's Instagram account
Other billboard lines included: "You can't bask in blue light," "Dance like nobody is recording," and "What a glorious day to stare into various screens for hours on end."
The ads are part of the 89-year-old camera maker's "The Best of Summer Is Analog" campaign, designed to appeal to digital-native Gen Z and support the launch of the brand's newest camera, the Go Generation 3.
Polaroid’s “anti-tech” stance “hypocritical”
But some felt the message was a little hypocritical in its appeal to environmentally conscious Gen Z consumers.
Replying to Far on LinkedIn, digital marketing consultant Russell Welch posted:
"I want to love this, but it just feels disingenuous to me. It implies that the people at Polaroid make no use of tech that relies on data centers. Which would mean they never: use generative AI / LLMs; do a Google search; use cloud-based software or storage or use a website hosted on a server that's in a data center. Somehow, I doubt it."
Polaroid Creative Director Patricia Varella insisted, however, that the campaign was not anti-digital.
"We know we have to live alongside technology, but we're deeply pro-human, and know what humanity gives us. And we know what we stand to lose if we don't protect it. That's a fight worth fighting."
Polaroid Creative Director Patricia Varella
While some may find the brand's message a tad sanctimonious, as a Londoner trying not to melt during what was a very long, hot week, the campaign did make me want to switch off my overheated phone, plunge into cold swimming pond and think about the use of AI and whether a data center should ever trump environmental and community concerns.
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