An unlikely player in the tech world managed to hijack the hype surrounding the launch of the new Apple iPhone 15 last year to shed light on sustainability.

Back Market, a marketplace for refurbished tech products, created a successful stunt last year by promoting the launch of a supposedly new, more sustainable smartphone, “The R,” at the same time Apple was preparing for the launch of its latest iPhone. DCX Growth Accelerator, which has a prank practice, worked with Back Market creative shop Gus to deploy micro-influencers on tech forums including Reddit to “leak” fake design plans for “The R,” stirring speculation.

The effort included out-of-home ads in global cities including Madrid, New York and London, teasing that “a more sustainable phone is coming” in September 2023. Back Market sent tech influencers a timed lockbox that was said to contain innovative new tech that was set to open on the date of the Apple iPhone 15 launch: Sept. 12, 2023.

The big reveal was that the box contained a refurbished phone, which is why it was named “The R.” Back Market then took over the YouTube masthead during Apple’s keynote for the launch to let consumers know that they can already buy a more sustainable, refurbished smartphone instead of contributing to the hundreds of thousands of old phones that are discarded after everyone rushes out to buy the newest models.

The campaign drove a 300% increase in online searches for refurbished phones and a 68% increase in new shoppers to Back Market’s site. Sales of refurbished devices on Back Market since the campaign launched last September have kept the equivalent of 241,700 tons of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere, according to DCX Growth Accelerator, at the time of its entry.