Capturing Emotion With TBD’s ‘Honest Yearbook’

As anyone who has a memory of their teenage years, a kid going through it themselves or just a passing knowledge of John Hughes movies knows, High School can be a pretty tough place. Indeed, new Ad Council research shows over two-thirds of teens say they have been bullied, but only 20 percent think they may have actually bullied someone.

With this in mind, San Francisco-based ad agency TBD and youth-based production and film studio Adolescent decided to create an ‘Honest Yearbook’ – presenting unsuspecting teens with tales of how their words and actions have affected others, all in the guise of a Yearbook photo shoot. Instead of taking the traditional headshot, the 20-year-old director instead captured the subject’s reaction at the moment they heard from a peer about their life-changing behavior.

We caught some time with TBD CEO Jordan Warren to chat about how the idea came to fruition, just how the yearbook setting was staged and the importance of hiring a crew that could maintain authenticity.

How did the project come about? What was the research that led to the creation of the campaign?

‘Because of You‘ is a new take on the Ad Council’s bullying prevention campaign. While two thirds of teens say they have experienced bullying, only 20 percent think they may have bullied someone. With the rise of social media, bullying behavior has become much more subtle and nuanced. In fact, the term bullying no longer resonates with teens. Often times teens say and do things that can have a negative impact without even knowing it. Things like starting a group text and leaving someone out can make them feel isolated or rejected. Posting a picture of them without their permission can make them feel embarrassed or betrayed. The goal of our campaign is to wake up teens and cause them to reflect on the impact the things they say and do have on others – both positive and negative.

What led to the idea of setting it around a yearbook photoshoot? What was it about that particular setting that aided your message?

High school yearbooks are keepsakes that people treasure for the rest of their lives. They capture an important moment in time when kids are transitioning into adulthood. And the yearbook photo is a representation of how teens want to be seen and remembered. Yearbooks are also a place where teens write messages to each other about their experiences together and what they mean to each other – sometimes superficial and sometimes profound. We thought, rather than having teens write in each other’s yearbooks, we’d film testimonials and capture the real, honest reactions to hearing the impact their words and actions had on others.

How was the project put together? When did you start speaking to Adolescent?

Teens are tired of being lectured to about bullying, so we needed to find a different way in. Once we came up with the idea for the Yearbook Experiment, we put together a panel of teens and conducted several codesign sessions to get their feedback and dig in to really understand the kinds of behaviors they were experiencing every day. In assembling our team to bring the idea to life, we knew that authenticity was going to be critical for teens to embrace the campaign, so we began thinking about how we could engage teens to be part of our production team. That’s when we were introduced to Adolescent. And we were immediately blown away not only by the idea of a youth production company, but by the talent and sophistication of Adolescent’s youth directors.

What was the prep for the shoot itself? How did you find the young subjects?

This was the magic, and greatest source of anxiety, in planning the production. First, we had to find kids willing to tell their stories. Then we had to figure out how to get the receiver of their messages to show up for the photo shoot without giving away the surprise. We began by reaching out to Southern California high schools to see if they were interested in supporting the project and we received an overwhelmingly positive response. From there we put out a call for kids who were willing to tell their stories for a documentary we were putting together. Once we met the kids and heard the powerful things they had to say about the impact others had had on them, we asked if they would be willing to participate in our experiment. They provided the names of the peers their stories were about and agreed to let us surprise them with their testimonials. Most importantly, they agreed to keep the secret.

How was the shoot itself? How did you maintain the authenticity? Was it important to have a youthful director when communicating with the young subjects?

The two-day shoot was one of the most powerful experiences any of us had been a part of in our careers – the client, the agency and the production company all shed plenty of tears over those two days.

On the first day, we brought in the kids that were going to tell their stories. We found a fantastic high school in Los Angeles where we could use a different location with each teen we were filming. This is where we really witnessed the brilliance of Adolescent. In order for the teens to feel safe and willing to open up about their experiences, the only people on set were the teen, the director, 19-year-old Claire Jantzen, and the director of photography, Michael Kortlander. Claire immediately put the teens at ease and was able to relate to them on their level. She did a fantastic job of getting them to open up and share their deeply personal stories. Even more impressive was her ability to help them find their voice and navigate their emotions. While on location, we gave the teens an iPhone and had them record the testimonials we would be surprising their peers with on day two.

As if day one wasn’t emotional enough, day two added the additional stress of not knowing who was going to show up and whether the experiment was going to work. The parents of the teens being surprised were incredibly helpful. They understood that their kids were going to hear about the powerful, positive impact they had had on their peers and even went so far as to embellish the story about the photo shoot in order to avoid suspicion and get their kids to participate. This time it was 20-year-old Shea Glover who had to not only earn the teens’ trust as the photographer, but also draw from them how it felt to hear about the impact they had on their friends. While many of these teens already shared a special relationship, it was clear that they had never communicated with each other in this way. In many cases, the teens delivering the messages were so excited about what we were doing, they wanted to come to the shoot so they could be with their friends after the surprise. Their reunions after the shoot were almost as powerful as the experiment itself. It will be fascinating to check in with them a year from now and see the long-term impact this experience has had on their relationships.

The film deals with teens being surprised by peers to whom their behavior has had a positive influence. Was there any thought to confront those who have had a negative influence - the bullies - and capture their reactions?

There has been so much focus on the negative effects of bullying that kids tend to feel lectured to and tune it out. While we included both the negative and positive effects teens can have on each other in the PSA, we really wanted to highlight the profound positive impact even the simplest gesture can have on someone else in the Yearbook film. We love the idea that kindness is contagious and wanted to focus encouraging positive behaviors.

Outside of the main film, what other activity is there in the campaign?

In addition to the PSA and Yearbook films, we created a website at BecauseOfYou.org which, in addition to the films, includes more content from the teen influencers who participated in the PSA, an interactive feature called ‘Honest Cards ‘that asks teens to consider positive and negative behaviors and what impact those actions have on their peers, as well as tools and resources for teens, parents and educators from the Ad Council’s expert partners. The campaign also includes out of home, digital and social executions. And Twitter has created a custom emoji for the campaign when you use the hashtag #BecauseOfYou.

Are there any plans to follow up the campaign?

Of course. The launch of the campaign is targeted around two crucial moments for the issue - back to school season and Bullying Prevention Month in October - and inspires teens to start the year off right. The campaign will be sustained through the website, social media and donated media for broadcast, outdoor, digital and social channels.