• by Sarah Mahoney , Yesterday

What does a social-media company do when social media becomes the villain? If you're Pinterest, you say so out loud.

While Meta and Google fight off mounting legal threats over the harm their platforms cause children, Pinterest is making a preemptive move of its own: an ad campaign that openly asks people to put down their phones, get off the app, and go live their lives.

The campaign, themed "How did they do it?,” launches May 1 across TV, cinema, out-of-home and digital channels. Created in-house, the 60- and 30-second spots use archival home videos and photos submitted by Pinterest employees, narrated by a child's incredulous voiceover: "How did they live their lives without posting about it? How did they know what they liked, if the thing they liked hadn't already gotten likes? How did they know who they were, without the rest of the world telling them?"

"Most platforms are engineered to keep you scrolling through other people's lives. Pinterest is engineered to get you off the app and into yours," says Claudine Cheever, Pinterest's CMO, in the announcement. "That's a fundamentally different value proposition, and this campaign is our boldest statement of that yet."

It's a striking position — and Pinterest's CEO has been even more direct. In a recent Time opinion piece, Bill Ready wrote: "I understand broad restrictions come with difficult tradeoffs. But social media, as it's configured today, is not safe for young people under 16. Instead, it's been designed to maximize view time, keeping kids glued to a screen with little regard for their well-being. In courtrooms, we've seen how social media companies put profit over young people's safety, sometimes with tragic outcomes. As both a tech CEO and parent, I know legal compliance is not the same as safety."

That last line seems like a direct challenge to competitors who point to terms-of-service enforcement as sufficient protection for tender young users -- and it's remarkable coming from someone running a platform that competes for the same eyeballs.

The effort comes as pressure on the industry reaches a new pitch. Almost half of U.S. teens say they spend too much time on social media, according to Pinterest. At least 16 states have enacted some form of ban on minors' access, with bipartisan support growing for a national version. Australia banned social media for under-16s in December, though the BBC reports 61% of kids 12 to 15 have already found workarounds.

Legal exposure is growing too. Last month, a California jury found Meta and Google responsible for the depression and anxiety of a woman who compulsively used social media as a small child, awarding her $6 million in a rare verdict. This week, a Massachusetts judge ruled that the state's attorney general can proceed with claims that Meta designed Instagram to addict young users.

Pinterest is also reinforcing the message at Coachella. Returning as a festival partner, the brand built a phone-free experience after noticing that searches for "Coachella outfit ideas" jumped 465% year over year, while "Coachella 2016" throwback searches soared 740% -- nostalgia, not the feed, driving the fantasy. Searches for "analog aesthetic" and "dumb phone" are surging on the platform too.

So when guests arrive at the Pinterest experience, they lock away their phones. Inside, they can explore a collaboration with E.L.F. Cosmetics, create custom charms, and get styling and beauty touch-ups inspired by Pinterest trends. A "poptimistic" photo op is on offer, and guests leave with a printed Joy Guide and physical keepsakes -- stickers, postcards and lenticular photos -- that they can mail home to themselves and share after the festival.