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‘It’s an epidemic’ - a scary statement for a harmful trend with terrifying long-lasting effects. This is the message the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sought to spread using the medium of interactive video to leverage an immersive educational experience targeted directly at vaping’s most at risk consumer segment: U.S teens.

The seismic shift of consumption behaviour has seen vape and e-cigarette use skyrocket predominantly amongst high school students, with 80% of young Americans still claiming they do not anticipate profound risk from regular use. The FDA needed the ability to reach 10.7 million teens nation-wide, knowing traditional methods could not generate the engagement necessary to create change.

In the first-ever national youth vaping education campaign, WIREWAX, alongside FCB New York and the FDA created What's In A Vape, a mobile-first interactive 360 experience with hard-hitting facts, designed as an investigative game to grab teen's attention.

By delivering the dangers of vaping in the native and enticing format, the FDA simplified a complex topic and spent more time with their key audience than ever before.
What's In A Vape was part of a huge cross channel public health campaign that included targeted media and TV commercials, all pointing to the interactive video as the hero piece of content.

WIREWAX was not only fundamental in developing the entire interactive build but also partnered on the CGI production, helping storyboard the experience from the ground up.

Engagement with What's In A Vape exceeded expectations monumentally, garnering over 120,000 unique views with audiences interacting an average of 7 times across the experience. The page itself was shared over 650 times in the last 3 months across major social media channels throughout the United States, increasing awareness for the FDA's powerful message.