PSAs: Public Service Announcement Campaigns

Sandy Hook Promise's New PSA Shows How Gun Violence Has Distorted the 'Teenage Dream'

Survivors perform a somber, hard-hitting version of a Katy Perry classic

Sandy Hook Promises New PSA Shows How Gun Violence Has Distorted the Teenage Dream — Katy Perry’s bouncy pop song "Teenage Dream," which is ostensibly about the joy and innocence often associated with our adolescence, is reimagined as a much more somber moment of remembrance.Sandy Hook Promise/ BBDO NY

By Sara Century

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Recent analysis shows that in 2020, there were 611 mass shootings. That’s nearly 200 more shootings than the year before. As jaw-dropping the statistics may be for most, the number speaks to an inescapable reality for school-aged kids who could face the possible threat of a potential school shooting.

With its “Teenage Dream” campaign, Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) teams with frequent collaborators BBDO NY to drive home the urgency of gun violence prevention. Katy Perry’s bouncy pop song “Teenage Dream,” which is ostensibly about the joy and innocence often associated with our adolescence, is reimagined as a much more somber moment of remembrance.

Sara Century

Sara Century is a freelance writer for Adweek.

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