The Ask
One of my first projects at VCU Brandcenter was to design an experience that used gaming to foster play.
My Answer
Got beef eaters talking about the cruelty of meat consumption by creating a pet simulation game– where the cute cow you nurtured gets brutally slaughtered.
Client: PETA
Background: Pet simulation games offered an interactive way for players to bond with virtual pets. With the success of titles like Nintendogs and Tamagotchis, it was time for a short game that I had built and designed myself: CattleCare.
CattleCare
(30-second playtime. Click play to start.)
PETA used unconventional methods to achieve their anti-meat mission.
According to PETA, they “operated under the simple principle that animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way.”
PETA became notorious for using gory, shock-value campaigns to bring attention to their mission. On the left: one of the only PETA protests that didn’t need to be blurred by Google SafeSearch.
Over the years, PETA had also guilt-tripped the public with tragic imagery of dead baby animals that tugged at their audience’s heartstrings.
An opportunity lay dormant: PETA had yet to consider the potential of combining both approaches.
The cute horror trend = the perfect moment for PETA to step in.
A popular trend in the horror game genre was seemingly sweet games that subverted player expectations to reveal an unexpected dark side.
For example, Doki Doki Literature Club, which tricked players into believing they were playing an anime dating sim, before giving way to an unsettling horror plot.
PETA became impossible to ignore.
PETA historically favored tactics that grabbed the attention of as many people as possible. As YouTubers and streamers garnered millions of views online scaring themselves playing similar games, PETA had the chance to go viral.
A case for veganism that meat-eaters wouldn't roll their eyes at.
Even the most well-intentioned argument for cutting out meat could come off as preachy, but CattleCare also allowed PETA appear down-to-earth without compromising on their extreme messaging.
Strategy:
Get: beef eaters
To: talk about the cruelty of meat consumption
By: creating a horror game disguised as pet simulation where the cow you nurtured gets slaughtered
What Came Out of It: Won Gold in “Least Cheesy PSA” at Cans Fest. (The second best thing after a Cannes.)
My classmates asked to share my student project on their socials, and they still remember Wendy the cow by name.
“You have a sick, twisted mind, Joy.” - Jess Collins, Strategy Chair of VCU Brandcenter
“You have a shade of insanity in your work.” - Catherine Dailey, Executive Strategy Director at TBWA\Chiat\Day NY
The Team: Me
Traumatized? Local Therapy Services:
