Pigeons not Pigeons

Heetch and BETC trigger a collective identity crisis among Pigeons.

“Being a pigeon”: a familiar French expression describing someone who’s been tricked, ripped off, or who paid way too much for something they could have gotten cheaper. But that… was before Heetch.

When paying less turns into an existential crisis.
Heetch and BETC are launching a new campaign that playfully hijacks a symbol every French person knows — the pigeon — to humorously explore what it feels like… to stop getting ripped off.

Called “Pigeons not Pigeons”, the campaign flips the usual narrative about price. It stages pigeons in the throes of an existential meltdown, shaken by a shocking revelation: Heetch is the cheapest ride-hailing app, meaning they no longer have to feel like, well… pigeons.

Absurdity to tell the truth.
By leaning into absurd humor and that very relatable urban bird, BETC and Heetch have created a bold message that clearly states the platform’s price positioning — without flashy discounts or marketing tricks.
A simple concept: what happens when a pigeon realizes it’s no longer being fooled? A clear answer: it becomes a Heetch rider.

A campaign built on a bold promise.
Heetch remains the cheapest option across the Paris region — with proof on its live price comparison site https://levtclemoinscher.com/, which lets users check real-time price differences with other ride-hailing platforms, instead of hopping from one app to another to find the best deal.

At Heetch, no “pigeon-ing.” Just common sense.
“We wanted to tackle the topic of price without falling into a dry demonstration. So we chose absurdity as a tool for honesty: if even pigeons start questioning their own pigeon-ness, you know it’s serious,”
says Olivier Aumard, Executive Creative Director at BETC.

“With the promotional noise coming from our competitors, we needed to reaffirm our price competitiveness, loud and clear. At Heetch, we don’t take people for pigeons. Well, actually, we do! But not really… Argh, now I’m confused,”
adds Renaud Berthe, CMO at Heetch.

Produced by Soldats and directed by Mehdi Alavi, the “Pigeons not Pigeons” campaign rolled out across social media, digital platforms, and radio.