In September 2024, the UN hosted the Summit of the Future to bring world leaders together to discuss and sign a pact that outlines solutions for a better future. The problem? The most important people weren’t present: the youth who will inherit the solutions discussed.
So we needed to encourage young people around the world to tune in and engage with the Summit. Because the more eyeballs watching, the more pressure on world leaders to get it right.
Introducing ‘Once Upon a Future’—a campaign that swaps the doom and gloom for youth resilience and meme culture. We partnered with the UN Foundation to create an alternate broadcast of the Summit that breaks down dense topics into a more digestible, entertaining and brain rot meme-ified format.
Preceding the Summit, we launched worldwide OOH, social and digital displays to invite audiences from all corners of the world to tune in and watch the Summit live.
As a writer, I channeled my middle child energy, lived experiences and internetspeak to write lines that sit at the intersection of youth culture and global issues.
Live from the hot dog cart across the street 🌭
The broadcast featured an eclectic cast of internet personalities and creators to reach a global audience. We also interviewed UN experts at their favorite lunch spot across the street of the UN building.
🍿 Grab some popcorn and check out the full broadcast 🍿
228 million video views. 3.3 million earned social impressions. $185 million in earned media value.
BTS
When my partner and I first came up with this idea, we called it the “Skibidi Summit” and oh the skibidi adventures we’ve had (still don’t know what skibidi means).
From shooting at the hot dog cart across the street to my boyfriend recording me presenting slides and doing a dab in the dark outside of the UN, I poured my Internet weirdness into this project and wrote a memeifesto that set the tone for this campaign. It all started with touring the UN to get inspired and ended with seeing our work in Times Square.
