The Communications Security Establishment needed a campaign to help stop the spread of online disinformation.
This concept almost made it to market. Early in the brainstorming process, I came up with a jingle. Despite its lighthearted tone, it was on-strategy and felt similar to nostalgic PSAs like these.
format
Show the audience an outrageous headline with exaggerated, fear-mongering tactics or blatantly harmful advice.
Show an urgently blinking share button.
Interrupt it with a jingle-singing ‘something’ related to the initial headline.
storyboard
The scene opens with an ominous blog headline on a laptop screen, zooming in slowly.
Slow atonal music starts to build tension quietly.
After a few seconds, a share button appears and begins flashing frenetically.
The music gets louder, and more tense until…
Rrrip! The bear in the headline tears through the back of the screen and starts singing:
If you’re not sure if it’s not true, don’t share it!
Si vous n’êtes pas sûr si c’est vrai, vérifiez-le!
Finally, we pan away from the laptop to put a point on the campaign message.
beyond the bear
Disinformation presents itself in a lot of different ways, so the concept needed to be flexible. Using AI, I generated some ‘mascots’ for some other outlandish headlines.
Ran Out of Toothpaste?
Brush Your Teeth with Dish Soap in a Pinch: Fresh Breath for All!
Flaming Ping Pong:
How to Nail the Latest TikTok Challenge:
10 Tips & Tricks
Concept development, copywriting, jingle:
Micah Rakoff-Bellman
Client: Communications Security Establishment
Creative direction: Graham Rapsey
Account management: Lynn Norris