The Brief: Research indicated that UAE children spend up to nine hours daily on their phones, leading to serious concerns about mental health, cognitive development, and academic performance. Yet, awareness had not translated into action.
The Concept: To drive action, we partnered with Fixby to create Don't Look Down—a 9-hour film replicating the algorithm of the 9 hours a typical teen is spening a day doomscrolling. Hosted at Roxy Cinema, the immersive experience forced parents, teachers, and policy makers to confront excessive screen time. Mobile interaction allowed viewers to end the film early, reinforcing the urgency for action. The audience were then directed to endthescroll.com to vote for smartphone restrictions in schools.
A pivotal moment came a few months post the campaign where significant PR and 500k ‘Yes’ votes at endthescroll.com, helped to build momentum for the UAE’s Ministry of Education to ban smartphones during school hours. Fueling a spike in demand for Fixby’s lockable pouches as a prime solution to enforce the new law.
Idea Board
