The Problem

It is estimated that 40.3 million people are living in modern day slavery worldwide. 4.8 million in forced sexual exploitation. Yet the public are fatigued by ads related to human trafficking.

The Solution

What if you led audiences on a journey of discovery in a medium that is innovative and interactive, letting them learn about the problem of child sex trafficking in a self-initiated way ?

Using AR, VR and 360 Meta tools we created an immersive experience through different media points to tell the story of how children can be saved from exploitation, whilst teaching people how to spot the signs of trafficking. Instead of showing real children we used the metaphor of butterflies, a symbol of hope, freedom and regeneration and invited users to follow butterflies on a journey from victim to surviver. To avoid vilifying any nation we ensured that the global problem was represented with real stories from survivors from across the nations building one narrative story.

Each experience led our audience to a resource platform hosting NGO’s educational materials - showcasing survivor stories, information to demystify trafficking, and active hotlines to report trafficking.

The campaign launched in US, UK, Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa, Philippines, Spain, Mexico, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Albania and Nepal.

Pitch, Play, Plunge Overview

360 video / Hero Film

Written using the words of real victims of sex tracking and voiced by talent from countries with high rates of sex trafficking.

VR world Trailer

This is the trailer my Creative partner Jacqui and I created by working with Meta’s internal VR film crew. Filming inside the VR world with four cameras simultaneously Jacqui and I gave feedback remotely and even acted as avatars in the experience ourselves. Since this was a self-initiated project for charity there was no budget for this trailer everything was done by pulling favours internally and Jacqui voiced the VO I wrote herself.

But was it a success?

The campaign pushed boundaries on how to creatively respond to sensitive topics, with real measurable impact.

Anti-trafficking charity IJM stated that, in a few weeks, 10million social media users in Philippines alone saw the campaign.

It serves as Meta's first case-study using AR/VR for non-profits for Metaverse Masterclasses and NGO educational conferences.

“We couldn’t have imagined such a vast uptake on this ground-breaking and game-changing campaign. Sex trafficking, specifically the trafficking of children to create sexual abuse materials, can be a difficult topic to broach for new audiences - and so we applaud Meta for stepping in and using its resources to shed light on one of darkest corners of humanity.”

— EVELYN PINGUL, DIRECTOR OF BRAND, MEDIA, AND COMMUNICATIONS, IJM PROGRAM AGAINST ONLINE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN.