Take Back the Prom

Company: DoSomething.org
Project Role: Senior creative strategist

The Opportunity:

DoSomething's campaigns are easily accessible to young people (ages 12-25), providing them with simple actions to make proactive differences in their communities. Having spent 2018 focused on voter registration, DoSomething wanted to connect with its under-18 members, and we needed to change the model of our campaigns.

Our strategy was to create a new kind of campaign from DoSomething, encompassing multiple relevant cause areas for the younger audience and where we could make an immediate and noticeable impact.

We ultimately chose to center the campaign around the prom precisely because of its ubiquity around the country and the many challenges arising because of and around the event.

As the senior creative strategist, I was in charge of building this new "moonshot." I identified the insights, led organization-wide brainstorming sessions, and determined which ideas would build the campaign's foundation. I researched the cause issues and focus-grouped potential solutions with young people before packaging the entire campaign into one cohesive movement, pitching it, and getting it approved. I then worked with the internal teams to design the technology, marketing, and content plans ahead of the launch.

The Solution:

Storytelling served as the entry point for the campaign, creating moments of connection for young people, making it personal, even if they had not experienced any discriminatory behavior themselves. We collected over 30,000 stories of injustices around the prom: People barred from attending prom with interracial or same-sex dates, denied to dress in clothing representing their gender identity, and those where the event was financially out of reach. We then built an interactive map highlighting these malpractices. 

Putting real stories front and center showed the scope of the problems in tangible, human ways. People could select their state and then get activated into action driving actual change.

Thus mobilized, we launched nationwide clothing swaps and donation drives to combat the rising costs associated with prom (average spending on prom is nearly $1100!) and make the event more accessible for all young people. The clothing donations also enabled us to involve college-age DS members who were past their proms but had clothing to donate. Thousands of drives and swaps happened across the country—with female-focused co-working space The Wing hosting donation drop-off points—ensuring young people who wanted to attend could go to their proms. 

As spring progresses and prom season is in full spirit, anxiety around the event rises significantly for young people. We launched an interactive text line for young people to share concerns about the prom and get support. We mobilized young people to share flyers around their communities to raise awareness. Users received personalized guides and were able to be supported. 

The campaign's final stage focused on building a more gender-inclusive version of the prom. Gen Z is the most gender-fluid generation ever, so we created a toolkit and petition to remove outdated gender-binary structures like Prom Kings and Queens from schools and "Overthrow the Crown." Thousands of students made petitions and other influence campaigns to get their schools to change their policies. 

Influencers brought attention to and advanced the campaign: Seventeen magazine featured actor, dancer, and activist Alyson Stoner, and actor Lachlan Watson wrote a piece in Teen Vogue and interviewed with Elite Daily. Additionally, LGBTQ+ rights activist and star of TLC's "I Am Jazz," Jazz Jennings; actor Ian Alexander; actor and singer AnnaSophia Robb; and Gen Z Girl Gang founder Deja Foxx, among others, were also involved in the campaign. 

The Outcome:

Prom remains a vital part of pop culture, and its outsized influence in teens' lives was the perfect entry point to showcase ways to help young people make real impacts in their local communities and create systemic change.

• “Take Back the Prom” was awarded GOLD at the Shorty Awards in the Social Distinction category.
  

• We collected over 30,000 unique stories of injustices around the prom, showcasing the scale and scope of challenges young people faced and creating personal and emotional connections to the issues. 

• The initial launch video earned 75 million+ impressions and helped get 60,000+ young people involved in the campaign. 

• More than 4,000 clothing items were donated—including several hundred pairs of prom-worthy shoes from Steve Madden. 

• Over 13,000 young people interacted with the anxiety text line. 

• Media outlets, including Mashable, Forbes, Hello Giggles, and Yahoo! News, covered the launch of the campaign, extending its reach and earning millions of views and impressions.

• Alyson Stoner's video had over 222,000 views on YouTube, alongside millions of impressions created by her Seventeen interview. Lachlan Watson's Teen Vogue essay and Elite Daily interview similarly earned several million more impressions.
  

  Using their collective energy and desire to change the world, we helped direct young people into meaningful ways to improve their worlds and turn a traditional event into something more inclusive, making the prom accessible for everyone.