Entry Category
Program Entry – Overall Social Marketing
Name of Intervention/ Program
2026 Campaign: The Truth Hurts
Background and Situation Analysis
Each year in the province of British Columbia (BC), Canada, more than 35,000 people are hospitalized for an injury. More than 8,000 are left with a permanent disability, and more than 2,000 die—that’s 1 person every 4 hours. The annual costs to society for these incidents is in the billions. Since 2009, this BC-based non-profit has delivered a mass media social marketing campaign. The goal of the annual campaign—which includes elements such as streaming services, digital ads, social media, and out-of-home—is to raise awareness, transform attitudes, and ultimately change behaviours towards preventable injuries, in order to significantly reduce the number and severity of these incidents in BC. The organization was founded in 2006 and the organization undertook three years of formative research with British Columbians. During this time, focus groups and town halls were conducted all across the province, trying to determine people’s existing attitudes towards injuries. The team discovered that the problem was people’s attitudes: they simply thought that injuries wouldn’t happen to them. They thought that injuries were “acts of God” or an inevitable part of life, or that they “happen to other people.” The campaign messages are aimed at 25 to 55-year-olds, and seeks remind the audience that injuries can and do, in fact, happen, and that simple actions—such as not texting and driving, wearing safety equipment—can make a difference. Employing the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) to decision-making, the campaign delivers advertising at the time and place when the risk of injury is highest, providing a reminder to wear a bike helmet, put the phone away, demonstrate ladder safety, while challenging people’s beliefs that injuries are just “accidents.” The team regularly monitors public response to its campaigns, as well as public attitudes and self-reported behaviours. Evaluations consisting of a representative sample of the population are conducted 1-3 times a year to track recall of ads, how people feel about them, shifts in attitudes, and self-reported action steps to prevent injuries (e.g., wearing a bike helmet, testing smoke alarms). Each campaign is tested to ensure that it is relevant, impactful, and that there are no red flags. Previous campaign “platforms” and slogans are used for 2-4 years; past campaigns include “Nobody Expects,” “Have a word with yourself,” “Seriously?”, and “Yellow lines don’t prevent injuries: You do.” In February 2026, the organization launched their latest campaign, titled, “The Truth Hurts.”
Priority Audiences(s)
The target market is adults in British Columbia 25 to 55-years-old. These individuals are “sandwiched” between caring for children and their aging parents. As the campaign uses mass media techniques, naturally individuals outside of this demographic are exposed to the campaign messages.
Behavioral Objectives
• Increase in awareness of preventable injuries • Shift in attitudes; that more individuals see injuries as preventable • Shift in self-reported behaviours; that individuals take steps in their daily life to prevent injuries
Description of Strategy/Intervention
The key insight behind The Truth Hurts campaign is that we all have an inner voice and an inflated sense of abilities. Sort of like a Superman complex, we don’t believe we can get hurt, and that everything will just work out perfectly. We saw the opportunity to remind people that they’re not special, and that preventable injuries can happen to people just like them. Three 30-second ads were created, each focusing on a different injury scenario: “Paddler” focuses on lifejacket use/drowning prevention, “Roofer” outlines safe ladder use, and “Driver” discusses texting and driving. Each ad has a main character stating that they do not need to take the proper safety precaution. The protagonist and the other characters all speak lines that one would actually tell themselves, such as “I’ve done this a hundred times before” or “I’ve been swimming my whole life.” The scene around them becomes more and more ridiculous and unsettling. It is eventually revealed that everything exists only in the protagonist’s head, and the reality is that they were seriously injured by their beliefs and unwillingness to follow safety rules. The ads end on a serious note with the tagline: “when you lie to yourself, the truth hurts.” Videos are available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@preventableinjuries When creating the campaign, we ensured that all materials aligned with our brand guidelines: that we generate self-reflection, we assume intelligence of our audience, do not come across as judgemental/nagging, and to think outside-the-box with our ideas. The ad concepts were reviewed and approved by the Social Marketing Committee of our Board of Directors. They were filmed in the Lower Mainland of BC in September 2025. Our ad agency was able to recruit top talent non-union actors, and key project leads: the Director was Tom Kuntz, who has worked on Skittles and Old Spice campaigns; and the Cinematographer was Rodrigo Prieto, who has worked alongside award-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese on many films. Focus testing found that the core message of the ads were consistent, clear, and understood; the transition from humour to serious in the ads made them more impactful; and that the ads had the potential to encourage behaviour change. The three video ads were combined with social and digital ads inviting the public to play “2 Truths and a Lie”—to spot the lie among a series of statements. The idea is that exposure to different scenarios on different mediums will allow users to connect the dots between different behaviours. For example, if someone sees an ad for lifejacket use on YouTube, then an ad for ladder safety on social media, all with the same slogan, they have the opportunity to connect the overarching campaign and message together—that it is up to them to prevent injuries.
Implementation
The campaign launched in February 2026 and will run until the end of 2026. The media buy is flighted to pulse in and out on different platforms and mediums. The goal is to achieve 100 million impressions from now until the end of the year. • Online Video: this includes streaming services and connected TV (e.g., Amazon Prime) • Cinema: The ads play during the pre-show before films in all Cineplex-branded movie theatres across BC • YouTube • Social Media: Meta (Facebook and Instagram), TikTok, Snapchat • Digital Display: on brand-safe websites • Gaming: Ads on the Twitch streaming platform • Audio: Video ads on Spotify and podcast streaming services The website, preventable.ca (https://www.preventable.ca/), was given a redesign/facelift to better showcase the new ads. The website has a page dedicated to describing the ideas behind the campaign, and blog posts on each topic where people can go to learn more. Additional sections highlight previous campaigns, as well as information on contact information and about the organization and its impact. Supplementary content is being planned and will be delivered on organic social media, and through earned media opportunities and partnerships with other organizations focused on injury prevention topics such as road safety and drowning prevention.
Evaluation Methods and Results
The organization has conducted 1-3 surveys a year since 2009, in order to monitor sentiment and recall of the ad campaign, as well as track attitudes and beliefs towards preventable injuries, and self-reported safety behaviour. The questionnaires are a representative sample of the BC population aged 25-54, have a total of 600 responses each survey, and aim for equal representation across ages, gender, and region. The first evaluation for “The Truth Hurts” campaign was completed in April 2026. Only covering 8 weeks of the campaign, the results are promising with no red flags. Claimed recall of the ads were similar to the levels of our previous campaign, “Yellow Lines.” Claimed ad recall was consistent across all ages, and the campaign was ranked high on measures of being clear, easy to understand, and relatable. 70% understood what the “Roofer” ad was trying to tell them, 39% thought the “Driver” ad was clever. Qualitative comments on the ads talked about how the humour was engaging, the dialogue was realistic, and how the ads elicited self-reflection of behaviour, thoughts of male bravado, and how friends and family would worry if one would get injured. The next two evaluations are scheduled for the end of August and end of November. Throughout the campaign, the team receives reports every eight-weeks with updates and metrics on the campaign and how it is performing. The June 21 report (halfway through the campaign year), show that the campaign is on track to exceed planned impressions, having achieved 57% of target impressions. Engagement on Meta and TikTok is high, with many comments and shares. Video completion rate on YouTube and Snapchat is above industry norms/averages. Programmatic/display ads have resulted in 26,000 clicks. Additionally, the team monitors social media comments and their email inboxes for reactions and feedback to the campaign. Comments so far have been typical, both positive and negative, including reactions from individuals who are resistant to change (laggers), those reject the concept/idea all together, as well as positive comments on the ads themselves and those who appreciate the reminder to be safe. All of these measures allow for real-time adjustments to be made.
Entry Number: 03