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Havas Play Paris has recently launched an awareness new campaign for its client, the Association L’Enfant Bleu. It’s the agency second work for the NGO following the multi awarded ‘Undercover Avatar’ campaign recognized at Cannes Lions and other major festivals.
This new campaign aims to sensibilize every parent in the world about the risks of “Sharenting”. Sharenting is the practice of parents publicizing sensitive content about their children on internet platforms. More and more parents are sharing photos of their children on social media.
Today this trend has become a widespread phenomenon and one to worry about, as 50% of pictures one can find on pedo-pornographic websites are photos taken by parents themselves during a lovely family moment and shared without any privacy on social media, hence exposing children to the large digital world without their consent.
So it is no surprise that sharenting has become a cause of concern for child protection NGO like Association L’Enfant Bleu.
To make parents aware of this critical online reality, Havas Play and L’Enfant Bleu decided to publish the first book dedicated to children but with an undercover message included for parents.
Intended to be read to young children by their parents, the book titled "The Crazy Adventures of Emma's Teddy Bear" tells the story of Emma's favorite cuddly toy. It is so cute that Emma's mom can't help but take a photo of it and share it on her social media, publicly. This photo then goes viral and falls into strange hands: the cuddly toys enthusiasts.
At first glance, this cute story is meant to entertain children. But for parents, the reading doesn't end there. A note invites them to mentally reread the story, replacing the cuddly toy’s photo with their own child's.
At that moment, the story takes a different turn. The cuddly toys enthusiasts turn into pedocriminals who operate on social media to collect as many images of children as possible to feed pedophilic websites.
The postscript explains the risks of sharenting and directs readers to a dedicated page on the Association's website to educate them on good digital practices.
“Approaching the school holidays, it seemed really important to us to communicate with parents about the risks of sharenting. This dual-purpose book is an effective and creative way to raise awareness among parents about the dangers associated with publicly sharing photos of their children on social media. In line with our long-standing collaboration with L’Enfant Bleu, we aim to have a real impact and change mindsets in order to protect children and raise awareness among their parents. This idea is also a true example of what our community planning can initiate thanks to its deep understanding of communities,” explained Fabrice Plazolles, Chief Creative Officer at Havas Play.
Laura Morin, Managing Director of Association L’Enfant Bleu – Enfance Maltraitée said: "This year again, L'Enfant Bleu continues its commitment to better protect our children in the digital space. Ideally, we should share their image as little as possible on social networks, but they are an integral part of French people's lives. However, the dangers associated with the internet are very real, even if they may seem distant to us and we are not always aware of them.
With this book, we hope to convey a simple and educational message to parents: you can avoid the dangers of pedocriminal networks by being cautious about what you post on social media."
Conceived by Havas Play, illustrated by Chloé Mencarelli, and published by Havas Édition, the book will be distributed throughout the summer to parents before they go on vacation, as well as at their holiday destinations. It is also available in bookstores and online.
The book was also sent to politicians in France, as they are working on a law to regulate sharenting. The aim of this book is to help them understand the real issues of sharenting and push them to vote this law.
Lastly, to reach the largest number of French citizens, a communication plan offered by Groupe Phenix, Giraudy, MediaTransports, Instore Media and Retailink will allow this story to be discovered in the metro, train stations, and major tourist destinations through an advertising campaign redirecting to an e-book that can be accessed on tablets and smartphones.
