- Anthony Joshua fronts a new WhatsApp campaign promoting its upcoming username feature.
- The feature lets users message without sharing phone numbers, rolling out gradually later this year.
- A 90-second film shows Joshua picking a username in a barbershop, with suggestions including @Champthony and @TheLandlord.
- Campaign tagline: "Same number. New name. More privacy."
Anthony Joshua has swapped boxing gloves for a barbershop chair in his latest brand move, fronting a new privacy campaign for WhatsApp. The Meta-owned messaging app is rolling out usernames, letting its 3 billion-plus users connect via a unique handle instead of handing over their phone number.
In the 90-second film, Joshua sits getting a trim while people around him pitch ideas for his new WhatsApp handle, including @Champthony, @TheRealAnthonyJoshua, @TheLandlord, and @MC_Nitro. Even his own mother weighs in with a suggestion for her son’s new handle. The spot closes with the line “Same number. New name. More privacy. What’s your WhatsApp?”
The timing lines up neatly with Joshua’s recent high-profile bout against Jake Paul, giving WhatsApp a fresh cultural hook to attach the launch to.
This isn’t Joshua’s only recent endorsement run; he’s also fronted a Wilkinson Sword campaign for the brand’s Quattro razor launch, and this marks his first known tie-up with WhatsApp specifically.
Joshua isn’t WhatsApp’s only celebrity face for the rollout; a separate ad featuring Bollywood actor Aamir Khan followed a day later, pointing to a multi-market push.
WhatsApp has leaned on star power before too: Bukayo Saka recently fronted a WhatsApp campaign tied to a Disney documentary, “The Time Is Now.” This also isn’t WhatsApp’s first major privacy push; last May it launched “Not Even WhatsApp,” its biggest global campaign to date, built around end-to-end encryption.
WhatsApp says it will hold back usernames for high-profile figures and organizations to prevent impersonation, while businesses and creators can claim matching handles from Instagram or Facebook.
Takeaways
Joshua’s everyman charm (getting a haircut, fielding playful suggestions from family) turns a fairly dry feature update into something genuinely shareable. It’s smart casting for a brand trying to make “privacy settings” feel relatable rather than technical.
Does celebrity-fronted tech messaging actually change how everyday users adopt new privacy features? Could “username culture” eventually replace phone-number sharing as the social norm?
