Cocaine Basement

The Home Office, DoH, DCSF and COI challenged Profero to create an informative, impartial and genuinely interactive digital experience where teenagers could seek advice on drugs and drug use and that offered an unflinching and realistic examination of the premise "There's a dark side to coke". Interactive adverts run in support to drive users to the site and encourage them to explore the rich and powerful information available to them. 

Working closely with above-the-line agency, Mother, and using Pablo the drug mule dog as a guide, the microsite needed to be a truly interactive experience. Research showed us the teenage audience reject advertising and websites that they feel to be patronising or lacking engagement. Our strategy, therefore, was to create an in-depth, highly informative space that was both factually rich yet also communicated the dangers of cocaine in a tone-of-voice that did not turn-off the target demographic. The site also had to be aesthetically appropriate yet easy to navigate, creating a desire in the user to explore the basement further, acquiring more knowledge and understanding. 

As a result our audience is encouraged to uncover the shocking representations of the consequences of cocaine use. Respective areas focus on addiction, the heart, impurities, nose, personality and law, as well as the effects on drug mules like Pablo. Interactive features culminating in an overworked heart rupturing from cocaine exposure and frame-by-frame shots of a nosebleed typify the rich, realistic video and photographic content that provides users with gritty experiential messages, in a unique embodiment of the campaign message.