This was an international campaign that utilized an original 7-minute branded online video (translated into 8 languages) posted on a designated Terre des Hommes YouTube channel (that also featured our 120-page research report, high res images, and a list of FAQs), an online petition to which the campaign film directs viewers to sign calling on governments to take action against Webcam Child Sex Tourism (WCST), and a massive amount of earned international press coverage about Terre des Hommes and the issue of WCST, which lead over 1 billion people to view the campaign in all media. In The Netherlands, where this campaign was launched, there are no regulations on online branded content of this sort.

To produce such an effective piece of branded content that was shared around the world and covered in news media everywhere, we worked with a renowned documentary film maker to create content that is highly compelling, believable, and authentic. The subject of WCST and the revolutionary method we used to catch predators in 71 countries were so extraordinary that it was imperative to show viewers that Terre des Hommes is fighting a real global problem that requires immediate action by citizens and governments everywhere.

Webcam Child Sex Tourism (WCST) is a new phenomenon that’s spreading like an epidemic: Men from rich countries pay children in poor countries to perform sexual acts in front of webcams. Terre des Hommes works to rescue child victims in The Philippines, but there are just too many and the number continues to rise. To raise international awareness and pressure governments to act, we developed a revolutionary solution based on our own in-depth research into WCST.

Insight: We found that these crimes happen tens of thousands of times a day, but only 6 men had ever been convicted because child victims don't report them and police don't investigate without a crime first being reported. Governments and law enforcement agencies are not doing enough to stop this growing problem.

Our solution: Police must actively patrol the websites where WCST happens.

Idea: To prove our point, we set an online trap to catch child predators. We created "Sweetie," an interactive 3D model that looks and moves like a 10-year-old Filipino girl. Then we went online and caught 1,000 predators in the act.

On November 4th, we held an international press conference in The Hague, where we showed our campaign film and handed over the evidence and identities of the 1,000 predators to Interpol. This created a massive international PR event, earning front-page coverage on every continent and Sweetie instantly became world news. The same day, our campaign film went live on a designated Terre des Hommes YouTube channel and it immediately went viral. We also launched an online petition that viewers of our campaign film were directed to sign. The petition has already generated hundreds of thousands of signatures calling on governments to take immediate and effective action against WCST. That petition will be presented in the coming months to several governments.

Audiences were first drawn to view the online campaign film after seeing the title 'Watch how 10-year-old Sweetie catches 1,000 pedophiles in 71 countries.' The film begins by tricking viewers into believing that Sweetie is real, then revealing that she is a 3D model designed to catch pedophiles. Audiences engaged with the content as the film explains how WCST emerged and how we caught 1,000 predators in the act before handing their identities to Interpol. We show real footage of our interactions with pedophiles and the making of Sweetie, giving viewers an in-depth understanding of the campaign's purpose and process.

Over one billion people saw the Sweetie campaign. We proved that our solution works in stopping predators everywhere. We put WCST on the global agenda and we pressured governments to take action. The United Nations have thanked Terre des Hommes for raising awareness and inspiring global action against a previously unknown form of child abuse. Terre des Hommes has so far presented the findings of our research into WCST at nine international conferences about online child abuse and violence against children. The TdH global brand image and relevance is as positive as it ever has been as a direct result of this campaign.

More importantly:

The Philippines National Police announced that WCST is the country’s number 1 crime. The Argentine Parliament increased penalties for perpetrators of WCST. But what we’re most proud of: Interpol and police in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Ireland, and South Africa arrested predators based on evidence we collected in this campaign and dozens of child victims have been rescued in the Philippines. And this is just the beginning as governments around the world are taking concrete steps to stop and punish online predators who are paying to abuse children in poor countries.