Interactive Video / Cause
FriendterventionVideo Experience
Scriptwriter for customizable interactive comedy videos aimed at high school-age tobacco users. With a young, cynical audience, the writing had to be outrageous, funny, and ridiculous enough to share, while sending a clear message. Users were able to ‘edit together’ customized videos for their friends by stringing together video clips to create hundreds of possible story permutations.
Role
Scriptwriter
Client
Alabama Department of Public Health
Discipline
Interactive Video / Cause
Friendtervention
Customizable interactive comedy for teen anti-tobacco.
Teen anti-tobacco messaging is the easiest thing in the world to ignore
Talk down to high-schoolers about their health and they tune out instantly. To reach a young, cynical audience, the work couldn't feel like a public-service announcement. It had to feel like something they'd actually want to send each other.
Hundreds of story permutations, one anti-tobacco message.
Don't preach. Let them make the joke.
We built customizable interactive comedy videos. Kids strung together clips to “edit” a personalized video for a friend with the anti-tobacco message riding in on the comedy.
Writing comedy that lands a health message without anyone noticing
The scripts had to be genuinely funny on their own terms, ridiculous enough that a high-schooler would send one to a friend without a second thought. The anti-tobacco message was baked into the comedy, never bolted on top of it. Each clip was written to work in any combination, so no matter which path a kid chose, the joke held up and the message came through.
Make it dumb enough to share, smart enough to land.
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