The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2025–2026
Yape turns Peru's Hermanos Yaipén into 'Hermanos Yapean' — Grand Effie Perú 2026
A payments app borrows the identity of Peru's most loved cumbia band for a fake rename, making 'yapear todo' the joke the whole country shared.
Yape (Banco de Crédito del Perú) · 121 Latam
What it had to solve
Yape, the mobile payments app of Peru's Banco de Crédito del Perú, had already won the country's habit for sending money between people. The next stage of growth was breadth — electricity, water and phone bills, QR purchases in stores, mobile top-ups and university fees — and explaining that with a utility pitch would have been forgettable. Yape needed the whole country talking about what the app could pay for.
How it works
In July 2025, Peru's most famous cumbia orchestra, Hermanos Yaipén, announced something shocking: it was changing its name. Fans argued about the decision for days. Then, on 16 July, the band revealed the 'new name' — Hermanos Yapean — and the reveal turned out to be the punchline of an advertising campaign for Yape, the mobile payments app run by Banco de Crédito del Perú.
The joke taught the product. Yape's goal was breadth: Peruvians could 'yapear todo', from electricity, water and phone bills to QR purchases in stores, mobile top-ups and university payments, and Hermanos Yaipén was the messenger. Campaign films and jingles carried the message, and the promotion turned behaviour into participation: every valid payment entered users in weekly draws of S/10,000 and double tickets to a private Yaipén concert, running until 27 August 2025.
The country fell for the prank on purpose. Thousands of users commented that they had genuinely believed the band was renaming itself — 'Nobody expected this', 'We all fell for it' — and the campaign became part of Peru's pop-culture conversation instead of an interruption. At the Effie Perú 2026 gala the jury agreed: the work won the Grand Effie for best campaign of the year, added Gold for strategic brand integration and Silver in banking and finance, and BCP took Advertiser of the Year.
Why it lands
- The fake rename was real news for days — Peru debated the band's future before it ever learned the announcement was an ad.
- Advertising as entertainment: the product message ('yapear todo') arrived inside a joke people wanted to retell, not a feature list.
- The promotion made the behaviour the prize — every payment with the app entered the draw for cash and a private concert.
- Choosing a beloved cultural icon let the brand join Peru's identity as a guest, instead of shouting at it as a sponsor.
What it did
The stunt landed in the feeds of the whole country: thousands of Peruvians commented that they had genuinely believed the band was renaming itself — 'Nobody expected this', 'We all fell for it' — and the fake news became a piece of national pop culture rather than an ad break. At the Effie Perú 2026 gala, 'De Hermanos Yaipén a Hermanos Yapean' was named the Grand Effie, the best campaign of the year, with 121 Latam as creative agency and OMD as media agency; the same work added Gold in strategic brand integration and Silver in banking and finance, and BCP was named Advertiser of the Year.
What you can take
Borrow a beloved institution's identity for a week: a fake rename turns an app's feature push into news, and people retell the joke — which is the message — for free.
Since then
The campaign ran through 27 August 2025, keeping the name-change joke alive in Peru's feeds for weeks. At Effie Perú 2026, juries handed out 22 golds, 33 silvers and 27 bronzes, and the Grand Effie — best campaign of the year — went to 'De Hermanos Yaipén a Hermanos Yapean', with 121 Latam as creative agency and OMD as media agency; BCP was named Advertiser of the Year. The stunt became the reference point for Yape's marketing in Peru, proof that a utility brand could lead the country's pop conversation.
Sources
- 'Nadie se lo esperaba': Hermanos Yaipén revela su nuevo nombre en medio de demanda laboral
- ¿Los Hermanos Yaipén cambiaron de nombre? La razón detrás de 'Los Hermanos Yapean'
- 121 Latam y Yape se llevaron el Gran Effie Perú 2026
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