Stop Bullying: Speak Up Cartoon Network, Facebook & Time Warner & Partner Nonprofit Associations
Cartoon Network’s audience of youth ages 6-14 said that bullying was among the biggest problems they faced that they believed they could solve with some help. In response, Cartoon Network recruited experts in bullying prevention from academia, government, and community-based organizations to create the Stop Bullying: Speak Up initiative, a multi-platform initiative launched in October 2010 that focused on motivating bystanders—-witnesses to bullying—-to speak up and help prevent bullying. The campaign site, www.StopBullyingSpeakUp.com, featured downloadable online resources, tips, toolkits and videos.
To reach various audiences, Cartoon Network:
- Created a series of PSAs featuring the on-air hosts of its popular prime time program, Dude, What Would Happen (youth viewers);
- Partnered with CNN’s Anderson Cooper: 360° on a bullying prevention town hall special (parents);
- Joined with Barnes & Noble and Simon & Schuster to bring the initiative into the more than 700 B&N retail stores nationwide (educators);
- Collaborated with Bitstrips to create the ‘‘Stop Bullying: Speak Up Comic Challenge’’ where young people create their own comics with positive bullying prevention messages (students)
- Distributed more than 8,200 Bullying Prevention Kits to Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide
To expand the effort, a partnership was formed with Facebook to launch the Stop Bullying: Speak Up Social Pledge App, an interactive social media pledge asking educators, parents and students to make a personal commitment—-and recruit others to join them—-to help stop bullying.
The Facebook partnership helped reach broad, new audiences with the help of ten leading anti-bullying nonprofits. As of January 31, 2012, they had 107,527 Pledges and 989,027 Likes, Fans and Friends.
Judges admired the way this campaign met multiple audiences where they were – both online and offline – and were impressed that they went beyond ‘likes’ to identify superfans to leverage influence.
