Hate speech is a rampant problem, especially amongst younger people.

A massive part of their lives happens online. So, when they experience hate on social media, the consequences are even more devastating: Anxiety attacks, depression, even suicidal thoughts. The film shows those consequences, but starts at the very end, with the most shocking image at the beginning. From there, we tell the whole story backwards. The life that gets less and less destroyed, the hate that floods in less and less. Until the story can start over again. With someone making a different decision. Because that’s all it is. Someone making a decision. Every comment counts. Good or horribly bad.

Deutsche Telekom enables millions of customers to participate in digital life and is committed to a network without hate. This story empowers us to keep in mind, that those decisions count.

Casting was everything for this project. As we were not so much shooting a commercial, but rather a 60 second short film, we needed someone, who could deliver a wide range of emotions, from being happy, naïve even, dancing childlike, to being absolutely broken and close to jumping off a rooftop, all of that in such a powerful way, that we could take the result and have most of the film run in reverse. So, Yeah, the casting process was painfully comprehensive. We were looking in Germany, UK and Hungary. And when we found our main actress, she absolutely blew our minds. In fact, she was so committed that she even wanted to cut her real hair in front of the camera, crying (we had one shot). It is safe to say, that this film wouldn’t have worked the way it did without her.

As hate speech is a broad societal phenomenon, we needed to reach as many people as possible. Hence, we decided for a very cinematic format which was showed nationwide on TV and in cinemas as 60 and 40 second films. YouTube, Facebook and Instagram was also extensively used. But the real reason it became one of the most seen, most clicked, most talked about films in Germany this time of year was, because we didn’t shy away from hard truths, raw pictures and an all too real storyline. Awareness for the initiative went up by 42,7 % (way above target), as of right now the campaign has reached total contacts of 390 mln. With a Listen Through Rate of 99 %, and the flight is not over yet. Just like the engagement against hate speech by Deutsche Telekom.