In Brazil, where only 2% regularly use sunscreen despite high sun exposure, the ANTHELIOS UVMUNE campaign is crucial. It connects with young Brazilians, who, despite being indoors due to digital culture, are at risk from UV damage when outside. This campaign intended to incorporate sun protection into popular games like Minecraft and The Sims, tapping into Brazil's gaming passion—140 million players—to educate about sunscreen's importance. It transforms sun safety from overlooked to engaging, aiming to instill protective habits in Gen Z. This effort not only combats a public health concern but also aligns with modern media habits, making UV protection a resonant topic for the digital age.

Our creative concept bridges the gap between the virtual sun in games and its real-world counterpart, highlighting the invisible harm caused by the latter to our skin. The sun shines in both realms, but only in reality does it inflict damage. Our campaign illustrates that the virtual sun could mirror these dangers, thus enlightening Gen Z about the perils of sun exposure without ANTHELIOS UVMUNE's protection. By integrating scenarios in popular games where the sun poses similar threats to players' avatars as it does to real skin, L'Oréal aims to educate young gamers. This innovative approach makes understanding the necessity of sunscreen more relatable, prompting a proactive stance on sun care among a demographic traditionally less engaged with such precautions. Through this, we seek to instill a sun safety mindset, leveraging the immersive power of gaming to foster a healthy habit that transcends digital play into everyday life.

Our strategy is rooted in a deep understanding of our target demographic: Gen Z gamers in Brazil. This age group thrives on digital platforms, spending considerable time indoors playing video games, which paradoxically places them at a distance from traditional sun care narratives.

Leveraging popular games like Minecraft and The Sims, we created in-game experiences and narratives around sun protection, directly engaging with our audience in their natural digital habitats. By partnering with leading gaming influencers, we tapped into established communities, fostering a sense of belonging and trust around the message of sun care.

Our ambition was to integrate sun protection awareness into the digital landscapes of Minecraft and The Sims, making a vital health message resonate with the gaming community. We aimed to transcend traditional advertising, embedding ANTHELIOS UVMUNE's importance directly into the fabric of popular games to educate and engage a younger audience on sun safety.

The challenges were multifaceted. First, maintaining the educational integrity of the message without compromising the entertainment value of the games. We needed to create content that was both informative and compelling, encouraging gamers to adopt sun protection habits in real life. Moreover, aligning with influencers who could authentically convey the campaign's message while engaging their vast followings added another layer of complexity. Second, the technical integration of sun protection concepts into gaming environments required extensive customization, demanding close cooperation with game developers to implement features like health impacts from virtual sun exposure and in-game sunscreen application.

The ANTHELIOS UVMUNE campaign seamlessly blended into Minecraft and The Sims, achieving a staggering reach of over 24 million accounts in Brazil (compared to the objective of 15 million accounts across social media). In Minecraft, the construction of buildings and facilities with 345 million blocks across 2400km² engaged streamers for hundreds of hours, while The Sims’ introduction of health facilities and the very first digital dermatologist appointment by Jade Picon enriched player interaction. Audience feedback highlighted a significant brand perception shift towards L’Oréal and La Roche-Posay as pioneers in sun safety awareness. A notable 90% of audiences were persuaded to purchase ANTHELIOS UV Mune 400, with 87% learning the correct sunscreen application method. Furthermore, after learning about the risks associated with ULTRA-LONG UV rays, 96% committed to daily sunscreen use, indicating a successful behavior change.