Iconic anti-piracy campaign may have used a pirated font

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In simpler terms, an old advertisement that was known for promoting against software piracy is making news because it seems to have used an illegally obtained font in its design.

If you were a kid back in the early 2000s, there’s a good chance you recall the “You wouldn’t Steal a Car” ad. This well-known slogan was from an anti-piracy campaign that first appeared in 2004 and ran in theaters and on home media. The campaign compared illegally downloading movies to stealing cars, purses, and physical discs.

More than a decade has passed since the renowned “You wouldn’t Steal a Car” campaign was launched, but sadly, recent news reveals that the very thing this campaign aimed to prevent – dishonesty – seems to have touched it. Yes, it appears there might have been an unusual twist in the ad’s creation: the possible use of a copyrighted font without permission.

Iconic anti-piracy ad may have pirated a font

According to Sky News, the font used in the advertisement appears strikingly like a design by typographer Just van Rossum. A Bluesky user named Rib discovered this by extracting the font from an old “You wouldn’t Steal a Car” PDF. Interestingly, they found that the font was taken from a pirated version of XBand-Rough.

As a devoted admirer, I stumbled upon an intriguing piece in PC Gamer where Melissa Lewis, the insightful journalist, managed to get in touch with Guus van Rossum. In their conversation, he pointed out that XBand Rough, a controversial font in question, is essentially an unauthorized replica of his very own FF Confidential design.

It’s debatable whether the “You wouldn’t steal a car” anti-piracy campaign itself engaged in piracy by using music illegally, but I discovered today that the font they consistently used is actually a counterfeit version (XBAND Rough) of an authentic font (FF Confidential).

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It’s worth mentioning that the creators of the “You wouldn’t steal a car” advertisement might not have been aware that XBand Rough was considered an “unauthorized copy,” since Sky News points out that the font was popularly used during its circulation.

Even if the old ad campaign does use his font, Just van Rossum doesn’t seem to be too bothered: 

He previously knew about the unauthorized replica of his font, but he didn’t realize it was the one used in the campaign until now. He’s always felt that the tone of the campaign was off-putting, which to him suggests why it has been ridiculed so much. The fact that they used a copied font in their campaign just adds an extra layer of irony to the situation.

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2025-04-29 13:18