This reluctant Stimulant editor must admit that she had a difficult time figuring out how to disconnect her computer from the internet. No, not in the emotional way, but in the literal way. After 10 minutes of poking around the computer’s control centre with no results, she phoned the IT manager, filled with shame.

“Uh, have you tried unplugging it?”

Right. That’s a thing.

Anyway, the whole experience proved that we do indeed take the internet for granted (and how we don’t actively seek to disconnect ourselves from it). It’s pretty tough to admit, considering how much we flip out when the internet is down. French internet service provider Bouygues Telecom knew that, and it decided to not only launch a new “Guaranteed Internet” package (which uses a 4G mobile hotspot router for internet emergencies), but also embark on a campaign for people outside its client base to enjoy life without the internet.

The centre of the campaign is a special website, created by BETC Paris. When you’re online, whentheinternetisdown.com is just a regular landing page with a simple instruction: add it to your bookmarks. When you’re offline and you access the site through your bookmarks, you’re taken to an index of fantastic “offline entertainment.”

There’s everything from TV shows and games to music and even photos.

Well, kind of.

The TV show section contains frank, yet compelling descriptions of some of the most popular TV series. The music section is a similar thing: a silent “player” with quick summaries of popular songs (such as NWA’s “F* the Police” – “It could have been a passionate declaration of love to law enforcement representatives. But it’s actually just the opposite”; or Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” – “She imagines it’s her first time but it’s not at all her first time”).

And the photo page? Well, it looks like this:

For those browsing the site, there’s also a quick link to sign up for Buoygues’ internet packages in order to avoid such a mess. But after a few minutes on this “website” (which we cannot encourage enough), we’re left wondering if maybe it’s a unique commentary on how absurd the internet truly is.

Credits

Client: Buoygues Telecom
Agency: BETC Paris