Screenager Apocalypse / Advertising Campaign
Teenager Technology Addiction
+Concept
+Research
+Naming
Scope of Work:
+Logo
+Copywriting
+Art Direction
+Advertising
+Website Design
As is very apparent in society, the rise in screen time and the addictive nature of technology among teenagers (ages 13-17) has become alarmingly high. Thus the term “screenager’ was coined.
Challenge:
Approach:
In researching, I discovered much of the narrative around this topic is posed as dooming and harsh. The average teen spends 7 hours and 22 minutes a day looking at their screens, equating to 43% of a teen’s waking hours. Teenagers are getting access to technology at an earlier age and their time spent on these devices is less monitored.
Solution:
Screenager Apocalypse is an advertising campaign with the goal to bring awareness to screen time addiction among teenagers but positioned in a way that brings light to the situation in a humorous and satirical fashion. This campaign targets parents of teens and those few hyper-aware teens looking to escape the screen apocalypse! Is it the end of the world?
Time to cut the ties
This ad utilizes dramatized imagery to convey the idea that teenagers are controlled by their phones. They are the digital puppeteers holding onto teens by their metaphorical strings. This ad urges teens to disconnect and break the ties.
Low battery, high anxiety
In this ad, a little boy experiences FOMO because his phone has just died. The pop-up above his head reads “Low battery, High Anxiety” as research shows there is a direct correlation between low battery percentage and spikes in anxiety. Here, the viewer is urged to unplug and not feed into social constructs.
Counting likes, losing sleep
Many studies surrounding blue light show that staring at a screen before going to bed leads to increased difficulty falling asleep and worse quality of sleep. In this ad, a teenage girl is up at night watching her Instagram likes go up instead of going to bed. This ad pushes the viewer to detach from this mindset.
Taking control
This ad directly targets the parent audience. A study shows that 47% of parents allow their children to have 3+ hours of screen time a day. For a teenager who is just learning how to moderate their own technology usage, it is vital that parents help them to relearn healthy technology habits and encourage other activities, such as being outdoors. This ad asks the parent to help their teen relearn better habits so that they don’t fall deeper into the technology vortex.
Social Media Appearance
Remember, social media does not reflect your real-life identity. In this video, Grayce opens her phone to film a TikTok video and immediately puts a beauty filter on to hide her actual appearance. This is a reminder: you IRL is what matters most, not how you depict yourself on social media!
TikTok Ad
This video ad on TikTok humorously pokes fun at those who feel that a dead phone is the end of the world. Playing off the idea of FOMO, teens often feel that a dead phone means they are missing out. The sigh of relief when Grayce finally plugs the phone in says it all…live a little!
Don’t get sucked into the iVortex…
Screenager Apocalypse by Gabriella Nagy