THE BOYS

TitleTHE BOYS
BrandAMAZON PRIME VIDEO
Product/ServiceAMAZON PRIME VIDEO
Category D01. Social Video
Entrant HEREZIE Paris, FRANCE
Idea Creation HEREZIE Paris, FRANCE
Production THE CABS Marne La Vallee, FRANCE
Credits
Name Company Position
Andrea Stillacci HEREZIE GROUP Chief Executive Officer
Paul Marty HEREZIE GROUP Executive Creative Director
Etienne Renaux HEREZIE GROUP Executive Creative Director
Rodolphe Pinta HEREZIE GROUP Art Director
Theo Castagne HEREZIE GROUP Copywriter
Jade . HEREZIE GROUP Very Junior Art Director
Dimitri Boudnikoff HEREZIE GROUP Group Account Director
Marine Chenu HEREZIE GROUP Account Director
Tanya Kozlova HEREZIE GROUP Agency Producer
Douglas Antonio HEREZIE GROUP Social Media Manager
Alexandre Andresciani AMAZON PRIME VIDEO Sr Social Marketing Manager

Background

In 2020, more than ever due to lockdown, people spent even more time in front of their screens. Some parents even knowingly let their kids watch streaming platforms for hours to keep them occupied. Yet a lot of the content isn’t adapted for children, particularly the Prime originals on Amazon Prime Video. So, in view of the context, to remind people about their Parental Control functions, Amazon Prime Video took the opportunity to showcase their latest shows…in a rather unusual way

Describe the strategy

The videos, aimed at the parents, are deliberately designed to surprise the viewer. By touching a nerve while adding a dose of cuteness, the message is even more powerful, almost shocking. The films were posted on YouTube and Facebook, the main social video platforms. Their short format, coupled with a PR strategy, helped to maximize their reach, both online and in the press, which, given the context and the subject of screen time during lockdown, was very instrumental in conveying the CSR message.

Describe the execution

Jade (6 years old), Thiago (5 years old) and Marilou (6 years old), three young Prime Video members, gave free rein to their imagination and illustrated their interpretation of three Prime Video Originals. Controversial, violent series containing vulgarity and reserved for an adult audience (16+/18+) ... basically shows they quite simply haven’t been able to watch…thanks to Prime’s parental control settings. A simple experiment in theory that gave rise to 3 content videos and conclude with the brand’s stance: “We prefer they imagine them, rather than watch them”. The children’s illustrations also became posters, displayed around Paris in a side by side OOH campaign: the drawings, displaying the parental control stamp, alongside the darker, more gruesome, actual posters for the shows.

List the results

The videos were shared thousands of times on social media and recorded over 10 million views in France. Each video also achieved a record completion rate of 80%. The campaign was mentioned in more than 50 articles in the press, in more than 10 countries and there are plans to adapt it for the USA this year. Last, but not least, the parental control settings have been activated more than ever before in French households (confidential data).