Last year, tobacco companies spent an estimated $149 million marketing their deadly products in Oklahoman alone, using a variety of half-truths and tricks to create customers. These manipulative efforts result in over half a million new smokers and thousands of Oklahoma deaths each year. Big Tobacco does whatever it takes to addict the masses and make a profit. No one is off limits.
Our brand set out to address these issues and to make it clear that industry lies are still a dangerous issue today. We knew successful execution would require a carefully crafted and attention-grabbing video. Thus, the Shapeshifter film was created, and Big Tobacco tactics were put on full display.
The Shapeshifter campaign, spearheaded by this 3-minute film, also included this film’s individual scenes and concepts broken into shorter videos for online, digital/social and television placements. These assets drove traffic to the Shapeshifter film’s landing pages, which continued education and prompted action, focusing on different areas of the industry’s manipulation and showcasing examples of their lies for further education.
Shapeshifter’s objectives were to make Oklahomans more aware of the schemes of the tobacco industry through videos and spur them onto Shapeshifter web pages for further education and advocacy against Big Tobacco. Measurable objectives were 2,000,000 video completions, 45% video completion rate, 75% increase in website traffic and 100% increase in website engaged sessions in the first 14 weeks following launch.
Because industry manipulation is often well publicized, our challenge was to make it abundantly clear the specific ways in which Big Tobacco still spins old and new lies to create addiction. However, holding attention in public health messaging has become increasingly tricky, so we had to cut through the noise and create a compelling and unsettling spot that left a lasting impression.
Our research showed that Oklahomans were unaware of the extent of Big Tobacco’ schemes… both past and present. Americans know that years of cultural appropriation disguised as clever marketing led Black Americans to increase consumption of menthol products, but many are unaware of recent industry lies, such as promised relief for teens with mental health issues through e-cigarette use, even though research clearly indicates nicotine creates mental harm for adolescents.
These challenges quickly became opportunities to shock audiences once we personified Big Tobacco as a shapeshifting character, allowing viewers to visualize the industry’s deadly schemes. Through meticulously crafted stories, ominous lighting, groundbreaking special effects and authentic research-grounded characters, our film reveals a unique and jarring perspective on the many lies and tricks the tobacco industry uses to hook customers into a lifetime of addiction.
Shapeshifter quickly resonated with millions of Oklahomans. Even with limited spend, online Shapeshifter videos were watched to full completion 19,637,724 times, exceeding the 7,500,000 objective by 162%. These views resulted in a 60.71% completion rate, far surpassing the 45% objective. Shapeshifter flooded its website with visitors, resulting in a 547% increase in traffic (objective: 100% increase) and 190% increase in engaged sessions (objective: 75% increase) year over year for the launch month. Shapeshifter also prompted healthy conversation on social channels, garnering thousands of comments discussing and advocating for Shapeshifter’s mission.
Since launching, Shapeshifter has effectively educated Oklahomans, consistently exceeded its objectives and won its way through local, national and international awards shows. Over the last 15 years of our partnership with the brand behind Shapeshifter, Oklahoma’s adult smoking prevalence has dropped from 29% to 15%, moving our state’s national ranking from 48th to 37th… the most impressive achievement of all.
