“a mournful anthem.”

The Washington Post

“forces us to confront victims directly” 

It’s Nice That

“gives a new sombre meaning to Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream” 

Billboard

IDEA: 

To demonstrate how the carefree innocence of the teenage experience has been destroyed by the reality of gun violence, we partnered with pop megastar Katy Perry and a brave team of real teenage school shooting survivors to reimagine Perry’s 2010 hit, “Teenage Dream.” We chose a song that embodied the symbolic dream we all have of youth - a time of young love, adventure, and self-discovery. As our survivors speak and sing the lyrics, the track takes on a new and very different meaning. Juxtaposed against the teenage survivors, the context of the original lyrics change and begin to eerily describe the traumatic experiences and feelings of these teenagers who have lost their teenage dreams to gun violence.

BACKGROUND: 

2021 saw the most school shootings on record, but as the sensationalist headlines come and go in the media, the trauma that these tragedies leave behind remains.  The aim of this campaign was to put a human face to the real, long lasting damage that gun violence is having on America’s youth and their families / communities. School shootings have become an accepted part of growing up, and they shouldn’t be. 

RESULTS: 

Teenage Dream made a huge cultural impact with over 1 million organic views in less than 24hrs. 

It got Sandy Hook Promise over $3.5 millon in earned media and 388 million media impressions. Standout press included Good Morning America, The Washington Post and MTV. It was shared by many celebrities and political figures including Trevor Noah, Mark Ruffalo, Monica Lewinsky and Katy Perry herself. Most importantly, as kids returned to school, it reminded people that gun violence was still a very real threat to their safety and prompted then to learn the warning signs of gun violence.