The Brief
How can we help ten million young people worldwide better understand the risks of underage drinking?
The Solution
An interactive film experience that puts young people at the heart of the story, allowing them to make decisions, interact with characters and learn about the consequences of underage drinking in an engaging way.
Background
Our Approach
Smashed Online is a life-changing experience designed to shift attitudes and understanding around alcohol for millions of young people, worldwide.
The original goal was to create a digital experience that speaks directly to young people aged 11-13 – equipping them with the tools they need to make better decisions around alcohol, peer pressure and negative influence – tackling underage drinking with positive thinking. Created by We Are Tilt and Collingwood Learning in partnership with Diageo – as part of their Society 2030 strategy – Smashed is offered for free to educational departments and young people worldwide.
Visit the project here: Smashed Online
We recommend viewing the UK version. Just register for free as a student and begin…
Based around a central interactive film, Smashed allows viewers to go inside the story and ask: what would I do differently?
Smashed has been adapted across 23+ countries and counting, with the goal of reaching 10m young people by 2030. Since launch in late 2021, the programme has already been completed by around 750,000 people across the globe, from India and Indonesia, to Australia and the UK. (Note: this is a one-hour educational experience, not a 30-second social sting.)
Tackling a real problem
Go inside the story
Underage drinking has a number of impacts on young people – from lack of performance in school and strained family relationships, to injuries and alcohol-related sexual harassment. The WHO estimates that over a quarter of all 16-19-year-olds are current drinkers, equating to around 155 millions adolescents.
Smashed Online is designed for 11-13-year-olds, reaching them at a point in their lives where alcohol may not yet be present, but the pressures to start experimenting are not too far around the corner.
Project goals include:
- Shift attitudes of young people to alcohol
- Scale/adapt to reach young people in different countries and cultures worldwide
- Be able to measure attitudinal change
- Reach young people in classrooms or at home on personal devices
- Reach 10m young people, parents and teachers by 2030
The approach needed to reflect our target demographic; youthful and energetic, with relatable characters, situations, and issues young people can recognise from their own lives.
That meant creating something vivid, with Netflix-level production values and authentic storytelling.
We wanted young people to drive the story, offering the chance to interact with characters. We filmed the actors on their phones, adding some raw authenticity to the look and feel.
Our crew was light and tight, enabling us to create a real sense of being “part of the gang” – both as an observer and a participant in the story.
Filming during the pandemic presented some logistical challenges but we followed the latest guidance, and also briefed international teams to follow similar protocols.
A global initiative
This is a project with huge global ambitions; we’re helping to facilitate those goals by localising this learning experience across several countries. We have briefed these markets on how to approach the project, acting as the creative fulcrum to brings these stories to life around the world. Now live in over 20 countries, with more being added with each passing month.
We decided that localising this project – so that every market has its own site and set of films – was the best solution so that the content feels wholly relevant and culturally on point in order to make the right sort of impact in each country.
Impact
Over 750,000 young people reached worldwide within 10 months of launch.
An average of 90% of young people said they were less likely to drink having experienced Smashed Online.
Recognised by the Digital Impact, EVCOM, The Drum and Cannes Media Awards for innovation and impact.
Really vibrant and engaging. The interactive nature of the platform, and the sense of a social media narrative, really engages our kids. I haven’t come across much learning content as engaging as this!
Jamie R. Headteacher, Reading, UK
I totally recognise the types of people I know in this story, and it really made me think about what I would do in those situations. Felt like watching a real show!
Rami Student, India