The ‘Screens’ campaign by Action Innocence, developed by Havas and launched in Switzerland in 2015, operates within the public interest sector with a focus on raising awareness around digital safety and responsible screen use. The brand proposition centers on protecting innocence in an increasingly digital world, emphasizing the risks and impact of screen exposure on vulnerable individuals, particularly children and adolescents. By positioning itself as a guardian of digital wellbeing, the campaign underscores a commitment to informing and safeguarding society from the potentially harmful consequences of unchecked screen interactions.
Strategically, the campaign employs a documentary and social experiment format to create an authentic, emotionally engaging narrative that resonates with its audience. This approach leverages real-life scenarios and genuine reactions to establish credibility and provoke reflection among viewers. By situating the campaign in Switzerland, where issues of digital safety are relevant but may not be prominently addressed, the campaign aims to fill an informational gap and prompt societal discourse. Targeting a broad public concerned with the intersection of technology and youth protection, the creative angle focuses on the tangible, everyday implications of screen use rather than abstract warnings. This insight—that direct exposure to real situations encourages empathy and awareness—guides the decision to present the campaign as a social experiment, thereby fostering deeper engagement and potential behavioral change among viewers.
FORMAT#3 SYMBOLIZE THE PROBLEM — Uses symbols or analogies to represent the problem instead of showing it literally.
This campaign, titled 'Screens' for Action Innocence, emerges from the public interest sphere and is labeled as a documentary/social experiment rather than a direct narrative or overt demonstration. With its suggestive title, 'Screens', and its alignment to a public service campaign, the campaign most plausibly employs the screen as a symbolic device to represent issues like internet danger or digital separation affecting children, without illustrating the harm literally. The absence of overt testimonial, competitive contrast, or explicit story arc, combined with the social experiment genre, strongly suggests it uses metaphor and analogy to embody the problem—an archetypal application of the Symbolize the Problem creative format.
ADVERTISING FORMATS EXPLAINED: https://www.clapboard.com/blog/branding-and-advertising/brand-strategy/12-advertising-creative-formats
1. Stop Violence – Positioned as a grassroots organization focused on empowering youth and families through education and advocacy to prevent online abuse and exploitation, Stop Violence emphasizes community engagement and emotional support.
2. Saferinternet.ch – Switzerland’s national platform for online safety, Saferinternet.ch stands out by providing comprehensive resources, educational programs, and policy guidance, combining government backing with multi-stakeholder collaboration to promote responsible digital behavior.
3. Child Focus – As Belgium’s leading child protection agency working across Europe, Child Focus leverages expert intervention, victim assistance, and awareness campaigns, differentiating through direct support services and international cooperation on child safety.
4. Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) – Specializing in identifying and removing online child sexual abuse content, IWF strategically positions itself as a trusted technical watchdog with a focus on public-private partnerships and rapid, actionable intelligence sharing.
5. Missing Children Europe – Operating as a network of NGOs, this organization differentiates through its broad European reach and focus on prevention, policy advocacy, and support for missing and sexually exploited children across multiple countries.
Q: What is Screens about?
A: Screens is a professional campaign created by Havas for Action Innocence, launched in Switzerland in 2015. Operating within the public interest sector, the campaign leverages the film medium to address the impact of screen exposure and digital safety, particularly for children and adolescents. Through a documentary and social experiment approach, Screens uses a single media asset to deliver a focused narrative that encourages viewers to reflect on the pervasive influence of screens in modern life. The campaign’s central creative idea is to provoke awareness and dialogue around responsible technology use and the safeguarding of innocence in a digital age.
Q: What creative device does Screens use?
A: Screens employs the Symbolize the Problem creative format, as classified by Clapboard’s 12-format taxonomy (FORMAT#3). Rather than depicting digital dangers or their consequences literally, the campaign uses the screen as a metaphor to represent issues such as internet risk and digital separation. This symbolic approach is reinforced by its documentary and social experiment style, allowing viewers to interpret the problem through analogy and real-life scenarios. By embodying the issue in a relatable, non-literal way, Screens invites audiences to engage emotionally and intellectually with the campaign’s core message.
Q: What is the campaign proposition for Screens?
A: The campaign proposition for Screens centers on Action Innocence’s mission to protect innocence in an increasingly digital world. By highlighting the risks and effects of screen exposure, particularly on vulnerable groups like children and adolescents, the campaign positions the brand as a guardian of digital wellbeing. Targeting a broad public concerned with technology’s impact on youth, Screens uses authentic, real-life scenarios to prompt reflection and societal discourse around digital safety. The campaign’s strategic focus is on fostering empathy and awareness, aiming to inform and safeguard society from the potential harms of unchecked screen interactions.
Q: How does Screens rank in Clapboard's archive?
A: Screens holds a Clapboard Campaign Score of 63/100 in Clapboard’s global ad archive. This score reflects the campaign’s creative ambition, execution quality, and cultural relevance as assessed by Clapboard’s curatorial standards.
Q: Who are the competitors in Action Innocence's category?
A: In the public interest and digital safety sector, Action Innocence competes with organizations such as Stop Violence, which focuses on empowering youth and families to prevent online abuse through education and advocacy, and Saferinternet.ch, Switzerland’s national platform offering comprehensive resources and policy guidance for responsible digital behavior. Other key players include Child Focus, known for its European reach and direct intervention in child protection, the Internet Watch Foundation, which specializes in removing online child sexual abuse content through public-private partnerships, and Missing Children Europe, a network driving prevention and support for missing and exploited children across multiple countries.
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