Amplify unveils anti-surveillance suit to safeguard Santa's journey this Christmas

Amplify, the global creative agency specialising in experience and culture, has unveiled an innovative solution to address concerns about Santa Claus being detected during his annual global journey with its latest project, Operation Secret Santa Suit.

The agency's in-house innovation team, inspired by anti-surveillance fashion, has developed a prototype anti-surveillance suit to safeguard the magic of the festive season.

In a world increasingly dominated by intelligence and surveillance technologies, Amplify recognised the potential challenges Santa could face in remaining undetected during his Christmas deliveries. The agency's team aimed to tackle this issue head-on by creating a suit equipped with adversarial patch designs.

See also: Gareth Davies reflects on the evolution and achievements of Amplify Australia as it marks its fifth year in business

The primary function of the suit is to deceive AI detection software, making the wearer appear as part of a city's wildlife and ensuring seamless, undetected movement. Version 1 has been specifically designed with the global network of Amplify offices in mind, utilising a variety of patch designs to confound facial recognition software.

The adversarial patches essentially cause confusion for algorithms, leading them to identify Santa as different animals in different cities; a Fox in London, a Seagull in Australia, a Rat in New York, and a Raccoon in LA. Amplify's anti-surveillance suit is poised to enable Santa to fly across the globe on December 25th without triggering alarms. 

Amplify's Operation Secret Santa Suit V1's "Fox Suit"

The Amplify design team expressed their enthusiasm, as they commented on this unique collaboration, "Working with such an iconic figure present in so many cultures is an opportunity we couldn't let go."

Earlier this month (December, 2023), Amplify bolstered its senior team in Australia with three new appointments, following a year of growth. Stepping up in the agency were head of brand and growth, APAC, Paige Lewis, general manager, Karina Munoz, and head of production, Claire Hewitt.

Gareth Davies, managing partner, Amplify Australia, at the time expressed, "We welcome this new generation of female leadership and look forward to the impact they’ll make to the agency and the industry."

See also: Amplify adds three senior appointments to its Australian team