Our creative idea focused on a simple premise: If we could find something funny to say about this serious topic – especially in a manner that would appeal to teenagers’ quirky sense of humour – then we could get their attention, and thus make our message heard.

So we set up our story with an engaging online video that is reminiscent of an old-school educational video, complete with a geeky adult host. After discussing the dangers of sending naked images, the video host suggests that instead, young boys should send a picture of a naked mole rat.

The headline reads: “Don’t Get Sextorted. Send A Naked Mole Rat.”

The video then shows the star of the campaign – a little-known African rodent, which is pink, hairless, and three to four inches in size – the ideal character to give boys something to giggle about and to eagerly share among friends.

Teen boys live on mobile and messaging platforms and are heavily engaged in meme culture, so we leveraged this behaviour in our campaign. We kicked things off with the Sextortion-Ed video and followed up with downloadable memes, gifs and stickers and even a custom keyboard on the app store and for iOS to get to our target right where they are.

We housed everything on a comprehensive website with detailed but simple-to-comprehend information about Sextortion, along with a downloadable lesson plan for teachers and even an e-commerce section with fun Naked Mole Rat swag for sale. Everything was laid out in a mobile-friendly interface without creating information overload.

We also used traditional media, including donated TV and PR to amplify the campaign. But in the end, it was key influencers who spread our digital assets and helped us achieve our goal of getting our message across to our target audience.

In less than a week, our campaign amassed a stunning 1.8 billion impressions, significantly exceeding the initial campaign objective. Across five continents, conversation about sextortion spiked 649% in one week. More importantly, our campaign helped change behaviour.

Protection services from Australia and New Zealand got in on the act with their own Naked Wombat and Naked Kiwi memes. Police forces tweeted to show their support and amplify the message. The School Liaison Unit used the video to help a teenage boy, showing him an alternative way out.

Social media and traditional press exploded with articles and interviews about the campaign. Major publications promoted the message on their platforms, sharing it with their followers. Merchandise flew off the virtual shelves, with orders coming from six countries. The lesson plans were downloaded over 1,500 times to be shared in classrooms.

Conversations about the risk of sextortion and prevention became a global phenomenon.

The “Don’t Get Sextorted, Send a Naked Mole Rat” campaign broke new ground by demonstrating the incredible impact that a carefully crafted image, perfectly in tune with the sensibilities of its target audience, can generate. The gentle humour of associating a naked mole rat with male genitalia captured the imagination of teenage boys, so much so that they became motivated to share the story, thus drawing global attention to a serious health issue with virtually no paid media investment. The campaign is a dramatic illustration of what can be achieved in today’s digital world with well-executed, razor-sharp creative.

The best way to prevent Sextortion is to simply make potential victims aware of it. But getting teenage boys to take notice and learn about the problem is a big challenge.

Firstly, teens don’t really want to talk about sex with adults. So we had to provide a way in. Secondly, young boys are inundated with messages about online safety. And since many of these warnings end up resorting to scare tactics, teens can become desensitized to such messaging.

To achieve all of our campaign goals and create a powerful impact, we took a very serious problem and flipped it on its head. We used humour and innuendo to appeal to teen boys and help break down the communication barriers around an embarrassing topic.

Research conducted by The Canadian Centre for Child Protection showed an 89% increase in Sextortion cases from 2015 to 2016. Sextortion occurs when users – mostly teenage boys as young as 13 – are duped into responding with compromising images to “come-ons” from online predators. After they send the images, unwitting respondents are subjected to blackmail by the online “Sextortionists.”

The CCCP wanted to create a broad-based awareness campaign that would connect with the elusive teen market and make young boys aware of the existence – and the implications – of this online peril.