We created an interactive video that made users experience their own drowning, during which they had to scroll continuously to stay above the surface.

During long minutes, scrolling was their only chance of survival, which generated a physical and psychological exhaustion. Quickly, they understood how tiring it is to swim at sea without a lifejacket, just like it is tiring to scroll continuously.

The mobile format was key for this campaign, knowing that the target audience concerned mostly young adults, who are many to neglect to wear a lifejacket at sea and many to own a mobile tablet.

Launched with a 0 euro media plan, the experience instantly generated a massive buzz around the world, raising more than 800K of earned media.

The website recorded 1 Million unique visitors who virtually drowned in the first 48 hours, with an average connection time of 4’37”.

The buzz quickly reached 221 countries, raising an outstanding amount of positive feedbacks on Twitter and Facebook (100K shares).

Traffic on Guy Cotten Facebook fan page literally exploded, increased by 2150%.

The buzz was relayed by world's most prestigious magazines, newspapers, blogs and TV channels: The Huffington Post, The Week, New York Daily News, Business Insider, France 3, Le Monde, BFM TV, 20min, Adweek, Advertising Age, Creativity Online, The Verge, Taxi, B9, Union Puebla, Soy Chile… (More than 1200 articles worldwide).

Most of all, thousands of users said on social networks they would never neglect wearing their lifejacket anymore, praising the campaign’s strength and efficiency.

Each year in France, too many people drown at sea because they neglect to wear a lifejacket. 43% of French people believe that because they can swim they do not need one. However, no matter whether you merely enjoy water activities, are a boatingenthusiast or a genuine professional, in the case of an accident, the chances of surviving without a lifejacket are unlikely.

How could Guy Cotten, a brand leader in marine clothing and safety equipment, raise awareness about the importance of wearing a lifejacket and make it a natural reflex?

Making this campaign available on mobile tablets in addition to casual computers allowed users to feel a different type of exhaustion (due to a different type of scrolling) and to get even more immersed into the experience: indeed, scrolling on a tactile surface is even more tiring than scrolling with a mouse.