Bullying no longer ends with the school bell. Kids are subjected to online torment 24/7.

In fact, 1 in 2 Canadian youth are victims of online abuse – a staggering statistic.

The creative idea was to show Canadian youth that they are not alone. To recognize their potential is limitless, despite the actions of cyberbullies. That when confronted with, or witnessing hurtful online behaviour, they have the power to combat it with positivity.

And how together, we can rise above cyberbullying.

Each WE Day event, we had 4 minutes to make an impact.

First, we shone a light on the problem, asking an audience of over 20,000 teens to raise their phone in the air if they’ve ever been impacted by cyberbullying. The result was sobering––a packed stadium filled with glowing lights.

We recruited a young lady, Lynelle Cantwell, who unfortunately made it to the “ugliest girls” list at her

school. We captured her inspiring story and brought it to life through an interactive performance. In front of thousands, Lynelle rose to the occasion. Backed by choreographed animation on multiple mega-displays illustrating her powerful journey and the message of rising above.

Lynelle’s story inspired others to take a stand. We were ready to help. We deployed a geo-targeted Snapchat filter that people could apply to the content they were creating and sharing, lending more impact and meaning to our message.

The Snapchat filter applied to the personal content of WE Day attendees was used over 20,000 times, helping our message spread far beyond the confines of the stadium.

Personal content with the filter applied was viewed over 1 million times – reaching almost one quarter of Canada’s total youth population.

On two separate occasions the filter was the most used filter on Snapchat on that particular day – globally. (WE Day Ottawa, November 9, 2016, and, WE Day Saskatoon, March 15, 2017.)