The idea was to use people’s last selfies, clicked just before they perished at these locations, to warn visiting tourists at risk.

Special-build beacons were deployed at tourist spots that automatically recognized any smartphone that came within range via the Vacation Exotica Selfie Guard app. As soon as a phone switched to camera mode, the beacons were programmed to relay back someone’s last selfie, clicked just before they perished at that very location, back to the phone. A timely and terrifying reminder of the pitfalls of taking a risky selfie.

The Vacations Exotica Selfie Guard App hit a 1000+ downloads in the first few days. Direct traffic to their website increased by 25%. Bounce rate declined by 18% and average session duration nearly doubled. Social media engagement increased by 450% (mainly on Twitter).