Rival Confronts Online Surveillance for the Launch of DuckDuckGo's Duck.ai

Sep. 18, 2026

Integrated marketing consultancy Rival has developed a new national campaign concept for DuckDuckGo’s Duck.ai, the privacy-focused AI chat service that lets users have private conversations with AI. Rival was engaged to develop the creative campaign for the product’s launch, which was produced with other key partners and is now running nationwide across the U.S.

People increasingly turn to AI chats for their most personal questions about careers, money, health, and more, and, according to DuckDuckGo’s research, they can feel watched while doing it. Building on DuckDuckGo’s longstanding stance against pervasive online surveillance, Rival brought that feeling to life through a striking visual: giant, evil, prying eyeballs that clumsily bounce toward people mid-conversation with AI. Duck.ai arrives as the story’s relief as users realize that using AI doesn’t have to come at the expense of privacy.

Produced by Partizan, the campaign comprises three TV spots: “Prying Eyes,” “Office,” and “Skincare.” It runs across TV, CTV, and YouTube, with a strong digital presence on Meta and TikTok. Additional Duck.ai creative extends to OOH and audio channels. The initial rollout features three :30s, with :15s and other cutdowns to come, and the campaign is set to run for at least 14 weeks through early Q4.

Cristina Stanley, CMO of DuckDuckGo said:

“What people share with AI chat can be more personal than anything they’d search for, and in our research they told us it can feel like they’re being watched. The ‘prying eyes’ are a clear, arresting visual to encompass that feeling. Duck.ai is the story’s relief as the protagonists realize using AI doesn’t need to come at the expense of privacy.”

 

The work reflects DuckDuckGo’s broader mission to make online privacy simple and accessible. Duck.ai is free, requires no login, and keeps conversations anonymous and out of AI training data, bringing the company’s privacy standards to a new generation of AI tools.