Pixels of History

On 1 June 1980, ARD teletext was launched. At the time, it was a revolutionary form of communication that helped to disseminate news and text via TV. Ever since, ARD teletext has been summarising the most important news in 24 lines of 40 characters each. To introduce this classic medium of teletext to a younger generation, the power of teletext was visualised with a TV ad based on the design of the European teletext standards governing the use of symbols. While the individual pages used to display text running horizontally always in the same grid pattern, they now feature roughly pixelated images with a somewhat abstract appearance, showing for example New Years at the Brandenburger Tor, the attacks on the World Trade Center and the 100-metre run of Usain Bolt. The aim of this campaign – to breathe new life into teletext news – was met as the film, print images and many other activities spread quickly through social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, generating over ten million of viewers.