With nearly 96% of Gen Z teens and young adults actively engaging in video games, gamers have quickly become one of the most critical audiences for truth®, the proven-effective and nationally recognized youth smoking, vaping, and nicotine public education campaign by Truth Initiative. To effectively reach this audience with facts about vaping and nicotine use, GALE helped truth launch a series of activations aimed at supporting young gamers in living a healthy, nicotine-free lifestyle. The ongoing campaign includes a Discord server, custom Minecraft in-game cosmetic items, and most recently, the orchestration of a Minecraft Creator Twitch tournament with accompanying community events.
To establish an authentic connection with the gaming community, GALE first assisted truth in launching a new gaming Discord server, engaging the highly active Minecraft community by offering discount codes for a custom Minecraft in-game cosmetic item. In just a few weeks, the Discord community amassed over 20,000 members and gave away over 215,000 cosmetic items.
Building on this momentum, truth brought together 40 of the most popular Minecraft players for a two-hour charity tournament on Twitch in a collaborative effort from GALE and Moonrock Labs. The virtual event was a hit, garnering 447,000 views on stream from truth’s Twitch account, with an additional 160,000 unique views from creators’ streams. The competition allowed the first place winner to donate $25,000 to a charity of their choice, ultimately benefiting The Trevor Project.
“Our aim with truth was to deliver our message in a modern method that is endemic to the gaming space and supports young people,” Max Bass - GALE Director of Emerging Connections
“We put the truth brand in gamers’ hands through in-game giveaways and custom maps that provide an authentic environment to educate about the harms of vaping and nicotine. By building an engaging experience, we’ve been able to drive thousands of downloads, create community in Discord and, most importantly, inspire vape-free lives for our audience.”
The partnership doesn’t end here. truth will be sponsoring The Game Awards 2023, the gaming industry’s biggest night celebrating the best in video games. During the awards, truth will premiere two new spots that subvert gaming tropes and aim to educate gamers that nicotine addiction can exacerbate stress.
