• by Larissa Faw , September 18, 2018

The Ad Council is battling against bullying with its new “Because of You” message that is specifically designed to avoid dwelling on the traditional doom and gloom of bullying or painting individual teens as evil culprits. 

The creative, developed pro bono by TBD, shows teens sharing authentic stories about how their peer’s words and actions, good and bad, impacted them.

The campaign developers worked with young talent from creative studio and production company Adolescent Content as well as youth directors to produce the content. 

Much of the Ad Council’s research informed the new approach, as teens today think of the term “bullying” as an extreme and don’t identify as a “bully” or a “victim.” Instead, the goal is to speak to those specific actions and their impact rather than calling out stereotypical “mean bullies." 

Have a look at the creative here.

“Teens and adults alike don’t always realize how small actions and fleeting words can deeply affect others both positively and negatively,” says Lisa Sherman, President & CEO, Ad Council. “We’re confident that this new campaign and approach to bullying prevention will raise awareness among teens and inspire us all to make empathy a priority.”

Launching to coincide with October's Bullying Prevention Month, the school-year-long campaign will introduce PSA assets placed in donated media and with support from media partners including Twitter and Snapchat. 

Twitter will also develop a custom emoji for the #becauseofyou hashtag and leverage new products to amplify the campaign message.

Ad Council corporate partners supporting this campaign include Mars' 3 Musketeers candy, Adobe, General Mills, and Twitter. Nonprofit partners include Be Strong, Born This Way Foundation, The Bully Project, GLSEN, PACER National Bullying Prevention Center, and The Trevor Project. 

Teens are directed to BecauseOfYou.org where they can visit “Honest Cards,” an interactive activity that asks them to consider positive and negative behaviors and what impact those actions have on their peers. The site has more in-depth personal stories from creators as well. 

Also assisting with the campaign: Beast’s editorial services, hasan & partners’ website development, and HelpGood’s social media management.