The "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" #BeMyNeighbor digital campaign sought out to honor Mister Rogers' legacy by encouraging everyone to spread kindness to every corner of the world. To offset the negativity on the internet, the campaign leveraged multi-platform and real-world activations.
Our goal was to bring back the nostalgia of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and inspire the online community to take action and show a little kindness can make a world of difference. This universal message crossed generations, cultures and backgrounds, and became the foundation of the campaign.
Because the goal of the #BeMyNeighbor digital campaign was to inspire radical kindness, the campaign presented itself opportunities to extend beyond digital boundaries. Thus the approach to the campaign was organized into three main categories: social activations, real-world integrations, and brand partnerships.
#BeMyNeighbor Contest
- We asked people across the country to nominate their neighbors who go above and beyond to make the world a better place for the children in their communities. The winner of the contest would be honored with a hometown red carpet screening of the film.
Kindness Trolley
- To show how kindness online will always prevail over messages of hate, we started a Kindness Trolley on Twitter where we nominated our followers to tag 3 people they like just the way they are. Not only did our followers keep the Kindness Trolley going by tagging their friends, but they shared what they loved about them and how Mister Rogers' lessons are still valuable today.
Mister Rogers Pop-Up
- We brought Mister Rogers' Neighborhood to life by building a pop-up experience of his iconic living room. Brand Ambassadors encouraged visitors to take photos and videos and share stories of how Mister Rogers has impacted their lives.
#BeMyNeighbor Creators
- We challenged influential Instagram artists to share Mister Rogers' message of kindness through their art. Whether it was latte art, needle point, or pen and paper, these messages inspired their followers to join in with their own words of kindness.
143
- 143 was Mister Rogers' way of saying "I love you," so as a final social extension to the #BeMyNeighbor campaign, the film's Instagram and Twitter pages followed 143 children's charities to highlight groups making a difference in their neighborhood, and to provide actionable ways for the digital community to give back.
Shine Text Messages
- Shine is a text message service that delivers messages of encouragement to their users every morning. We partnered with them to deliver daily text messages of kindness inspired by Mister Rogers.
Warby Parker
- Warby Parker integrated Mister Rogers' friendly neighborhood into stores across the nation. Customers were greeted by employees in red sweaters and gifted Encourage-mints (specially branded Mister Rogers mint boxes). They were also able to send loved ones messages of encouragement on "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" inspired postcards.
Lingua Franca
- Lingua Franca, a fair-trade sweater company, joined our #BeMyNeighbor campaign by creating a Won't You Be My Neighbor?" branded sweater, with proceeds going to charities of buyer's choice.
The Giving Keys
- The Giving Keys, a company founded on Paying It Forward, partnered with us to create a Mister Rogers inspired key. On one side it read "143" and the other "Be Neighborly". These were sent out to our neighborly influencers who helped spread words of kindness over the course of the campaign.
The #BeMyNeighbor campaign took the internet by storm, and the message of kindness resonated with everyone, garnering support from fans, influencers and celebrities alike. The impact of the film extended beyond the digital campaign, and prompted spontaneous acts of kindness across the country. People donated to local charities in Mister Rogers' name, school groups started clothing and shoe drives, and theater chains provided postcards to moviegoers to write kind letters to their neighbors.
The excitement for the film resulted in more than 50 million views of the trailer to-date and the campaign accumulated over 242 million impressions.
Won't You Be My Neighbor?, the little film that could, became the 12th grossing documentary of all time at the box office and left a legacy of its own that Mister Rogers would be proud of.
Video for #BeMyNeighbor Campaign - Because a little kindness makes a world of difference.
