SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — Cheil Worldwide has joined forces with Korean financial app Toss and the Korean National Police Agency for a PSA campaign to raise awareness about the gravity of teen gambling by running Instagram feeds of a fictional 16-year-old boy.
Online gambling continues to spread among teenagers in Korea. Nevertheless, its seriousness is not recognized, as people regard it as a mere mobile game played only by some troubled teens. Its similarity to mobile gaming makes online gambling more accessible to teens while making it difficult for them and their parents to realize its risks. The campaign “Doyoung’s Gambling Die-ary” is a wake-up call for teens and parents.
Four out of 10 teenagers in Korea have experienced gambling, and the number continues to increase. According to the Korean National Police Agency, the number of juvenile offenders aged 14 or older and under 19 who were charged with gambling increased by 2.3 times from a year ago.
Teen gambling is a serious social issue because it causes problems in family and peer relationships and leads to secondary crimes such as school violence, theft, and fraud. The problem is that adults are still unaware of its seriousness.
As teenagers’ most used financial service, Toss wanted to protect teens from financial risks to help them live a healthy financial life. Informing adults around teenagers about the severity of teen gambling was a matter of urgency.
Cheil Worldwide and Toss created the the fictional character Do-young Park, a 16-year-old high school student, and ran his Instagram feed daily for 38 days to help people understand how teenagers can get into gambling. In the beginning, it looks like an ordinary teenager’s life, but the photos gradually suggest gambling addiction.
People can find subtle signs of online gambling through pictures and videos of Do-young being absorbed in smartphones, giving expensive gifts to friends, being obsessed with part-time jobs, and selling his shoes as secondhand goods.
Do-young’s realistic story made the experience more immersive, raising awareness about the reality and dangers of teen gambling. The scenario was written based on signs of teen gambling analyzed by professional organizations and interviews with teenagers who have fallen victim to gambling.
The Instagram feed was discontinued after his final message, saying, “I want to quit now,” implying he could not get out of the debt from gambling. Three days later, a film revealed that Do-young was fictional, and his face was created using AI technology by combining the faces of teenage gambling victims.
The campaign was well received. People left more than 3,000 comments on the microsite, and the campaign film drew more than 4.3 million views.
“We thought a lot about how to attract parents and society’s interest and sympathy for the teen gambling issue. By creating a virtual persona through AI and operating an actual Instagram, the reality and seriousness of teen gambling could be effectively communicated,” said SungSoo Lee, Brand Marketing Lead at Toss. “Toss will continue its efforts to root out and prevent teen gambling and strive to fulfill its sincerity and social responsibility as a financial brand.”
“It was necessary to alert parents, other adults, and the society rather than blaming the teens who were the victims of online gambling,” added Youbin Bang, Creative Director at Cheil Worldwide. “We hid signs of being addicted to gambling in everyday photos and videos of the seemingly ordinary teenager to convey the message that people around him, such as family members and friends, should pay attention so that no one falls victim to teen gambling.”
The Doyoung’s Gambling Die-ary campaign ran from August to October through the official social channels of Toss and the Korean National Police Agency, as well as OOH and influencers’ social content.
CREDITS:
Campaign Title: Doyoung’s Gambling Die-ary
Client: Toss
Brand Marketing Lead: SungSoo Lee
Brand Marketer: Seokmin Yong, Jeonghyo Lee
Video Content Producer: Taesung Kim
Content Manager: Sua Song
Brand Designer: Youngchan Kwon
Creative Agency: Cheil Worldwide
Creative Director: Youbin Bang
Copywriter: Navin Seo
Art Director: Inyoung Cho
Account Director: Annie Ok
Account Executive: Jihyun Kim
