Don’t Fear Smoking

Background

The organisation A Non Smoking Generation wanted to talk young smokers out of the habit. At the same time, they hoped to alert parents, teachers and potential sponsors to the fact that smoking was still prevalent amongst the young.

Idea

Teens already knew about the hazards of smoking and were unimpressed by scare tactics. The insight was that many smokers start because of underlying anxieties – perhaps of 'not fitting in' or being perceived as 'uncool'. Smoking helped them hide their fears.

So the plan was to encourage young smokers to talk about smoking and about their fears. A Fear Clinic was built in Minecraft, where young people could talk to a certified psychologist and to each other about the subject.

Though intended for Swedish youth, the psychologists were all able to talk to visitors in English as well.

A digital brochure was launched, advising parents and adults how to talk about smoking to young people with the message "Don't Fear Smoking".

Results

The Fear Clinic in Minecraft was highlighted in a lengthy feature on a leading Swedish TV news show, TV4 Morgonsoffan with video clips and a panel discussion between representatives of A Non-Smoking Generation, the psychologist and the hosts. The story

was picked up by other media including the BBC, PSFK, Daily Dot, Cnet, and Trendhunter. But above all, the campaign engaged thousands of young individuals in Minecraft and kik, with a fresh perspective on the debate: Don't be scared, because that's why you start.

Our Thoughts

Minecraft has only been going since November 2009 but is massive with over 35 million games sold. Kids love it, partly because adults don’t get it. To us oldies, it looks like a really naff sort of digital Lego. But go to YouTube and you see that there are thousands upon thousands of videos about it. One Minecraft star is Skydoesminecraft, whose YouTube channel has a staggering 9,600,000 subscribers.

His Minecraft parody of Coldplay’s ‘Paradise’ has had 30 million views.

The numbers are incredible.

That’s not just why this campaign was a shoe-in for Directory, the fact that it is the perfect place in which to meet your target audience of youngsters. But the strategy is brilliant too. Kids take up smoking not because it’s cool but because it is a smokescreen. And the fact that the campaign played out in realtime, with young people able to talk freely and openly to a psychologist in a forum where they couldn’t be spied on or tracked made it uniquely personal to each of them. Outstanding work from Deportivo.