Zwinky.com, IAC‘s virtual community, has partnered with TheTruth.com on a digital campaign urging teens to avoid smoking. The push launched April 2.
The initiative, which is aimed at teens ages 12 to 17, is running in three Truth-branded arcade games in Zwinky’s virtual world, Zwinktopia. Community members can access them at the virtual world’s gaming hub. Easter eggs, flyers and banners throughout Zwinktopia and on Zwinky.com’s homepage will direct users to the games.
“TheTruth.com wants to reach teenagers. Our main audience is teens 13 to 17, so this is the perfect fit,” said Erin McLaine, product manager at Zwinky.com.
The virtual community has 24 million registered users and gets 400,000 registrations each month. The campaign runs through the end of June.
The interactive games highlight the health consequences of smoking. For example, one game, called “Fire Truck,” challenges players to extinguish fires caused by smoking-related materials. “Type or Die” is a game in which teens have to type phrases in 6.5 seconds to highlight the fact that someone dies from smoking-related causes in the US every 6.5 seconds. The “Addictor Click” game focuses on the addictive nature of cigarettes.
“The games are designed to entertain and get [consumers] engaged at the same time,” said McLaine. “It is a great opportunity to make sure that our kids are having fun while at the same getting an educational message.”
A representative from TheTruth.com could not be immediately reached for comment.
