Emotional Short Film Recognized as Outstanding Commercial of 2022
Newtown, CT – On Saturday, Sandy Hook Promise, Smuggler Productions, and BBDO New York were honored with the prestigious Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial of 2022 for “Teenage Dream” (Spanish language version is also available). The short film subverts the famous ode to teenage innocence — Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” — with a re-recording featuring real school shooting survivors reciting the lyrics, illustrating how the teenage dream is stolen from those impacted by school shootings and underscoring the critical importance of prevention. The Television Academy of Arts and Sciences selected this PSA over ads by Apple, Chevy, Meta and Change the Ref for the Creative Arts category. The award was presented at a live event ahead of the 74th Annual Emmy Awards telecast.
“We are deeply honored by this prestigious award. The fact that the Academy chose to nominate two gun violence prevention ads, ours and Change the Ref’s, among the best commercials of 2022 underscores just how important this issue is and why we must work together to end this epidemic plaguing our country. Awareness of the problem – and its solutions – are critical first steps,” said Nicole Hockley, co-founder and CEO of Sandy Hook Promise and mother of Dylan who was killed in the Sandy Hook tragedy. “We are incredibly grateful to our creative partners, BBDO New York and Smuggler Productions, for helping us develop innovative ways to raise awareness and save lives, to Katy Perry for donating the use of her song, and to our generous media partners for the donated airtime that brings the PSA into millions of homes and communities nationwide. We are also profoundly thankful to the survivors and their families who shared their voices to make this impactful commercial.”
“Teenage Dream” is the latest in a series of short film PSAs by Sandy Hook Promise and BBDO New York that include the Emmy Award-winning “Back-to-School Essentials” as well as viral sensations “The Kids Are Not Alright,” “Evan” and “Point of View.” The goal of these productions is to emphasize that school shootings are preventable when you “know the signs.”
To date, more than 18 million people nationwide have participated in Sandy Hook Promise’s proven Know the Signs programs that focus on prevention to help end the epidemic of gun violence by training youth and adults how to identify at-risk behavior and intervene to get help before a tragedy can occur. Through these no-cost programs, Sandy Hook Promise has averted at least 11 school shooting plots, hundreds of teen suicides, and countless other acts of violence.
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About Sandy Hook Promise: Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) envisions a future where all children are free from school shootings and other acts of violence. As a national nonprofit organization, SHP’s mission is to educate and empower youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes, and communities. Creators of the life-saving, evidence-informed “Know the Signs” prevention programs, SHP teaches the warning signs of someone who may be in crisis, socially isolated, or at-risk of hurting themselves or others and how to get help. SHP also advances school safety, youth mental health, and responsible gun ownership at the state and federal levels through nonpartisan policy and partnerships. SHP is led by several family members whose loved ones were killed in the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.
Media Contact:
Aimee Thunberg | Associate Vice President, Communications | Sandy Hook Promise | [email protected] | 646-761-5579