| Title | DEALERBOT |
| Brand | RESET |
| Product/Service | REHABILITATION CENTRE |
| Category |
E04. Advanced Learning Technologies |
|
Entrant
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HAPPINESS BRUSSELS / AN FCB ALLIANCE, BELGIUM
|
|
Idea Creation
|
HAPPINESS BRUSSELS / AN FCB ALLIANCE, BELGIUM
|
|
Idea Creation 2
|
MOTHERS AGAINST DRUGS / MOEDERS TEGEN DRUGS Antwerp, BELGIUM
|
|
PR
|
HAPPINESS BRUSSELS / AN FCB ALLIANCE, BELGIUM
|
|
Production
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HAPPINESS BRUSSELS / AN FCB ALLIANCE, BELGIUM
|
Credits
| David Ketteridge |
Reset |
Founder |
| Karen Corrigan |
Happiness / An FCB alliance |
Executive Creative Management |
| Geoffrey Hantson |
Happiness / An FCB alliance |
Chief Creative Officer |
| Pieter Claeys |
Happiness / An FCB alliance |
Concept Provider |
| Roxane Schneider |
Happiness / An FCB alliance |
Concept Provider |
| Aline Kraus |
Happiness / An FCB alliance |
Photographer |
| Kris Van Wallendael |
Happiness / An FCB alliance |
Senior Digital Producer |
| Stijn Huylebroeck |
Happiness / An FCB alliance |
Developer |
| Bart Vande Maele |
Happiness / An FCB alliance |
Producer |
| Remke Faber |
Happiness / An FCB alliance |
Head of Motion |
| Simon Schuurman |
Happiness / An FCB alliance |
Motion Designer |
| Seth Michielsen |
Happiness / An FCB alliance |
Motion Designer |
Describe the creative idea
Instead of flatly informing press, ‘Reset’ & ‘Mothers against Drugs’ decided to take action and find a way to corrupt those database, dealers’ main marketing platform. Introducing: DealerBot. A self-learning sms-bot, programmed to keep dealers busy, by engaging them in long, very long, conversations. So, while most bots are programmed to make life easier, Dealerbot is designed to make things more complicated. To keep the conversation going as long as possible. To make appointments and never show up. And to operate through hundreds of different phone numbers. This way, these databases are now filled with corrupted numbers. So, every time a dealer gets a text message, he or she doesn’t know if it’s a real client or a waste of time. This way, dealers are forced to make more phone-calls, making them more traceable for the police.
Describe the execution
Phase 1. Collect Dealer’s numbers.
DealerBot is linked to telephone numbers of recovering addicts (obtained via ‘Reset’, rehabilitation centre in Antwerp). Every time they receive a text message from a dealer, DealerBot recognizes the language and collects the number from the dealer. So far, DealerBot collected 378 numbers of street dealers in Antwerp.
Phase 2. Infiltrate into the Databases
In the first weeks, the DealerBot only sent unsuspicious messages like ‘Hey, I got your number from a friend. Can I contact you from now on?’. These type of messages were sent to over 300 different dealer numbers. By doing so, to date, we got 298 different telephone numbers controlled by DealerBot into these databases. As all these numbers started to receive promotional messages from different dealers, in the meantime we we were able to add another 508 numbers to the list. And it keeps growing…
Phase 3. Start corrupting.
Once infiltrated, early October, DealerBot started trolling dealers, by engaging them in very, very long conversations and making appointments where no one showed up. All conversations starting with ‘Hey, want to meet?’.
Phase 4. Inform Press (and parents and politics)
‘Reset’ & ‘Mothers against drugs’ send out a press release, a seeding film and pictures of the anonymous collective (wearing Sheep masks. Symbolically, to state their ‘sheeps against the wolves’-attitude)