On Saturday, Sandy Hook Promise, Smuggler Productions and BBDO New York were honored with the prestigious Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial of 2021 for “Teenage Dream (Spanish language version).”
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 73rd 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 2021 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.”
