We created a disturbing illustrated film with scenes of a boy being bullied. The scenes were wrapped up with an impactful end super that drove home the metaphor that the video that could be ended through sharing, just like bullying itself. The scenes reassembled each time a new viewer viewed it, such that the shortened versions of the film were as meaningful as the original, and always communicated the metaphor. At every point, we reached out to the social media community and urged them to Share It To End It.

The shrinking video got Singapore talking about bullying for the first time. Over 50,000 Facebook shares (not just views or likes) and 900,000 Twitter impressions sparked a national conversation. The message reached 6.5 million Facebook users, and a further 29.6 million people via other platforms. The CABCY Facebook community tripled. Singapore Member of Parliament Dr Lily Neo voiced her support to the cause. Social media, a platform notorious for cyber bullying, became a safe space for sharing about bullying in one of the world’s most digitally connected countries. Beyond Singapore, we got unprecedented free coverage in over 30 countries.

A recent study confirmed what a huge problem bullying was in Singapore. But no one even knew about it, because kids were reluctant to share their experiences. The Coalition Against Bullying for Children and Youth (CABCY) knew they had to spark a national conversation.

Our insight was that the more you share the truth about bullying, the less it happens. We created the world’s first un-viral video: an animated film that told the story of a boy who was bullied. Every time someone shared the video, it got shorter, and the suffering of the boy was literally reduced till it got wiped out completely. Thousands of victims, bystanders, parents and teachers came together to Share It To End It.

This way, we used the video itself as a powerful metaphor: Just like we could end the video by sharing it, we can end bullying by sharing our experiences about it.