The #nofilter hashtag is used thousands of times every day in Brazil, where it was translated as #semfiltro. But in Portuguese, saying “SEM FILTRO” is like saying “NO SUNSCREEN”. So, we decided to "hack" #semfiltro to fight skin cancer. We’ve created a hashtag response: #poefiltro, something like "WEAR SUNSCREEN".

By tracking all photos using the hashtag #semfiltro (#nofilter), we could generate custom comments for each of them, based on the situation of each picture. Always saying this main message: a photo without filter is ok, but the skin needs sunscreen, so #poefiltro (#wearsunscreen). Encouraging the use of #poefiltro instead of #semfiltro, we had the opportunity to warn people about the importance of sunscreen against skin cancer.

During the action the hashtag #poefiltro soon began to be used spontaneously in thousands of new photos. In addition, many people and celebrities have shown support by posting photos with the campaign symbol: a # drawn on the skin with sunscreen. Until the last count, there were more than 522 thousand interactions (likes + shares + comments + views) and more than 32 million people impacted, all this without a single publipost or paid media on Instagram.

Identify an already famous hashtag and reinterpret its meaning allowing us to create a new hashtag to fight skin cancer. Besides that, by tracking this already famous hashtag we were able to deliver a highly personalized message in a very relevant context.

By using Instagram as a platform and commenting on photos being posted live, our strategy was to reach people in the most relevant moment possible. Many of the photos that we track with #semfiltro (nofilter) showed situations where sunscreen was needed, and in fact, in many cases it was not being used.

Brazil is the second country in number of users on Instagram, and during our summer two things grow exponentially: outdoor photos and the incidence of skin cancer. This type of cancer is the most common in Brazil.