THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT | eSAFETY COMMISSIONER
THE CHALLENGE
Sextortion was becoming an increasingly serious threat to young Australians. In 2025, Australia's eSafety Commissioner received more than 3,300 reports of sexual extortion, with 86% coming from males and 42% from men aged 18–24.
The challenge was to reach young men in the very digital environments where sextortion begins, capture their attention before deception takes hold, and connect them with information and support they might not otherwise seek.
THE WORK
We set out to turn clickbait on its head.
If Sextortionists Were Honest used alluring imagery and seemingly intimate online encounters to draw young men in, then delivered something unexpected: the truth about sextortion and the information they needed to protect themselves.
Through AI-generated characters, provocative storytelling, and social content designed for the places young men already inhabit, the campaign transformed a familiar digital encounter into an unexpected intervention.
Developed through original creative thinking and produced entirely using Google's Veo 3, the work demonstrated how generative AI could become an integrated creative production tool, enabling an unconventional approach to a sensitive public safety issue.
THE SOCIAL FILMS
Three social films brought the campaign's central idea to life through different characters and scenarios. Each began with the familiarity of an intimate online encounter before breaking the illusion and revealing the manipulation behind it.
Using Veo 3, we brought together AI-generated performances, environments, lighting, editing, and sound design to create convincing encounters that ultimately exposed the deception.
By making the sextortionists themselves deliver the warning, the films transformed the tactics of deception into a means of education, giving young men a reason to stop, recognize the threat, and seek help.
THE SOCIAL CAMPAIGN
Static social executions extended the concept, using provocative imagery and direct to capture attention.
Designed to interrupt the everyday scroll, each execution turned an alluring image into an unexpected warning, encouraging young men to recognize the signs of sextortion and access support.
THE WEBSITE
Attention was only the beginning. Every campaign execution directed audiences to a dedicated eSafety landing page, where the initial encounter became an opportunity to understand sextortion, recognize its warning signs, and find information about reporting and support.
This completed the campaign's journey, connecting a moment of recognition to practical steps young men could take to protect themselves and seek help.
THE PRODUCTION
Working collaboratively with my writing partner, Google's Veo 3 was used to bring the creative concept to life, developing and producing AI-generated characters and films from the ground up.
Every production decision, from character appearance, wardrobe, and performance to environments, set dressing, lighting, editing, and sound design, was executed using AI.
For an Australian Government campaign addressing such a sensitive issue, this approach required extensive approvals. It demonstrated how original creative thinking, copywriting finesse, visual direction, and hands-on production could work together to deliver an unconventional campaign.
THE INVITATION
Following the campaign, we were invited to present its creative development and key learnings to the broader Australian Government team, exploring the opportunities and limitations of AI and how it can be used effectively in government communications when the technology serves the creative idea.
THE SOCIAL EXTENSIONS
The campaign was conceived to go further, with additional short-form videos designed to flood social feeds and reach young men during everyday scrolling.
Building on the campaign's characters and provocative storytelling, these creative extensions explored how unexpected encounters could repeatedly interrupt familiar online behaviors to continually meet young men where their attention already exists and deliver information they might not realize they needed.
THE IMPACT
If Sextortionists Were Honest reached more than 600,000 Australian men, bringing critical information about sextortion directly into the digital environments where they were most likely to encounter the threat.
The campaign also generated 37 reports to eSafety directly attributed to the work, connecting people experiencing sextortion with the resources and support they needed.
What began as clickbait became a pathway to help. By capturing attention in an unexpected way, the campaign made a difficult and often hidden threat recognizable, connected young men with critical resources, and turned awareness into measurable action.
*Shortlisted by B&T for CAMPAIGNS OF THE YEAR: Best Digital Campaign, Best Social Media Campaign, Best Tech and AI Campaign, and the B&T Award for Bravery