MullenLowe MENA brings a social initiative that targets influencers, celebrities, or any regular person on the internet. The project is “Chocapologies” where the aim is to raise awareness on cyberbullying and trolling. The main goal of this campaign is to make the internet a happier place for everyone.
The team at MullenLowe MENA says: “as a probono campaign, we are trying to make the Internet a happier place. That’s why we are apologizing on behalf of the internet with specially designed & produced chocolate-coated apologies. We are calling them Chocopologies because we believe that the internet will be a better place if we were to #sugarcoatIt. This is an initiative spearheaded by MullenLowe, however, we took help from Karim Bourgi to make chocolates for us, because we do not know how to make chocolates yet and youtube wasn’t much of a help. This is an idea we have put all the money in. from designing, producing moulds, getting chocolate to packaging, getting influencers etc.
A lot of it is done on probono basis since the idea is something everyone believes is strong powerful and will genuinely be helpful in getting the point across of sugarcoating the internet.”
Chocapologies is simply a way to apologize on behalf of the internet, and the Chocapologies are sent to those who have experienced cyberbullying and trolling online to show them that not all the internet is bad. This campaign wants to raise conversations around cyberbullying, how it is affecting everyone online, and how we can fight cyberbullying to make sure everyone on the internet is safe.
The different packages have three main themes that deal with body shaming, hate messaging and cyberbullying.
EFFECTS OF BODY SHAMING WITHOUT THE SUGARCOATING: Eating disorders, crushed self-esteem and broken confidence are just the start. Studies report that being body-shamed has short and long-term psychological and physical health consequences that can lead to severe depression or worse.
EFFECTS OF HATE MESSAGING WITHOUT THE SUGARCOATING: Online hate leads to offline hate crimes. What’s more of a crime? A life cut short. Words, we forget, can cut just as deep as knives. Many young people who suffer abuse online due to their sexual orientations, religions or races have cut their own lives short.
EFFECTS OF CYBERBULLYING WITHOUT THE SUGARCOATING: Depression, low self-esteem, sleep and eating disorders, lower academic scores. In more extreme cases, victims of bullying commit suicide or retaliate with violence. Today, 3 out of 5 children are bullied on social media platforms.
THE CHEF BEHIND THE CHOCOLATE
