In late 2017, the Harvey Weinstein story broke. This was a watershed moment that uncovered decades of systemic sexual abuse within Hollywood. Each day after, more and more stories of abuse by different people came out. With each revelation, women became empowered to speak their truth and hold those responsible accountable for their actions. While it took generations to take shape, in a matter of weeks, the #MeToo movement was born.

Vanity Fair described it as “a Rotten Tomatoes with a post-Weinstein twist.” What it is, is a very simple digital tool designed to let consumers know whether or not a film or television show they’re interested in is tied to someone with allegations of sexual misconduct. By connecting reputable third party articles to an open source database similar to IMDB, users simply type in the name of a film or television show and the site tells them whether a project is “Rotten” or “Fresh”. If the query yields a “Rotten” result, it lists out who the allegations are tied to and provides links to the reputable third party articles where users can click to learn more. Because the system is updated to reflect what’s being reported in real time, the site also allows for users to provide missing names–with at least one credible source attached–or corrections.

The Weinstein scandal broke on October 5th, 2017, with The New York Times leading the story. Timing was important, as we needed enough time to pass after the initial story broke, to allow for more individuals to share their #MeToo stories. After Time Magazine proclaimed the women of the #MeToo movement as “Person of The Year” on December 8th–we felt that our database was extensive enough to launch the site. On December 11th, The Rotten Apples website launched.

The scope of those affected enabled us to create a in-depth experience allowing users to crosscheck a database of hundreds of thousands of film and television projects against a growing list of almost 120 verified allegations against different actors, directors, screenwriters and producers. Within four hours of the site going live, the site had been passed around to every country on the planet except for North Korea.

With no money spent on media, the website generated roughly 5.7 billion impressions ($64 million in earned media), including 4 million searches on the site alone. The traffic was a result of the 200+ articles written; including an exclusive by The New York Times the day after we launched.

The site was also the subject of various news sites and programming like Vanity Fair, Buzzfeed, Vice, Complex, Mashable, The New Yorker, CNN, HLN, The Glenn Beck Show, CBS Sunday Morning, CBC, NPR’s The Frame, PBS and many more.

While the average time spent on most websites is close to 190 seconds, our site’s user average was a whopping 14 minutes and 10 seconds.

Furthermore, it sparked an intense public discussion about whether or not we can separate art from the artist with more than 72,000 unique social interactions (likes, shares, comments, tweets) and 14,000+ user contributions.

We collected over 100 reputable third party articles from sources like The New York Times, The Washington Post, The BBC and many others. The site continues to be updated in real time; as soon as a story breaks. So if a published article includes allegations of sexual misconduct against those tied to film or tv, we would then update our database. That way, visitors to the site could search for a film or tv show–and discover it was tainted–it would list out who the allegations are against, and link out to one of the source articles. Additionally, if information was missing or incorrect, users could inform us with suggestions.

A third of women between the ages of 18 to 34 have been a victim of sexual misconduct at work, with the majority of those remaining silent. We believe that the systemic gender inequality and imbalance in the workplace–specifically film & tv–has led to rampant unchecked harassment and sexual assault. As a female owned and operated agency (WBENC certified), we felt this was a cause we couldn’t ignore.

The goal of the brief was to create a tool that would make ethical media consumption easier as well as drive awareness of just how pervasive sexual misconduct is in film and television. With increased awareness and conversation surrounding the subject, the hope is for a future of inclusivity and a workplace free of inequality and sexual harassment.