Created by a young creative team from INNOCEAN Berlin, the campaign explores the growing impact digital platforms are having on children’s health, development and relationships. Using primary school-style drawings and handwritten visuals, the campaign contrasts the innocence of childhood with the darker realities of today’s online environment.
Each execution carries a stark warning designed to highlight the risks children face online, including messages such as: “Kids are drained by content they should never be addicted to”, “Kids sign terms and conditions they should never be offered” and “Kids are promoted content they should never come across.”
Under the tagline “Tech must be safe for kids”, the campaign supports a petition by 5Rights Foundation calling on policymakers to introduce child safety certification for technology used by children, protect under-13s from personalised systems, introduce graduated protections for all under-18s and ban services that expose children to harm.
The campaign launches as concerns around children’s online safety continue to grow across Europe. Research from 5Rights Foundation found that children can encounter harmful content within hours of opening a social media account and may then be repeatedly targeted by recommendation algorithms within minutes.
Childhood Redrawn debuted on digital screens in Brussels on 15 May and will roll out across Belgium, the UK and Germany throughout June with support from donated media space by Bauer Media, Amplifi Global, JCDecaux and HYGH. Developed in 23 languages, the campaign is also expected to run in additional markets over the summer, with audio and video adaptations planned later this year.
The campaign’s creative strategy will also be presented during Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June as part of EACA programming focused on the role of advertising in driving positive social impact.
Childhood Redrawn is the first campaign developed through EACA’s Campaign4Good initiative, a pan-European programme launched by the EACA Young Board in 2025 to encourage emerging creative talent to tackle major societal challenges through advertising. The initiative introduces a new challenge every two years, inviting young professionals across Europe to develop campaigns capable of delivering meaningful social change.
The winning concept from INNOCEAN Berlin was announced by Michael McGrath during the Effie Europe Gala Dinner in Brussels in December 2025.
Commenting on the launch, Charley Stoney said: “We know that young people in our industry want to deliver better for society and the EACA’s Young Board initiative Campaign4Good helps them do just that. This brilliant creative work from Innocean, project managed by Dentsu Creative, shows how advertising can highlight key issues that impact on us all and how we can drive change to make improvements for us all. It’s wonderful that the first phase of the campaign has now started, showcasing a clear message for change in the digital ecosystem.”
Leanda Barrington-Leach, Executive Director at 5Rights Foundation said: “Children are being exposed to digital products designed to maximise engagement, influence behaviour and extract data, while the responsibility for managing the fallout is too often pushed onto families. Through this campaign with EACA, we’re bringing together the creative industries across Europe to make one thing clear: children deserve technology that is safe by design and companies must be held accountable for delivering it.”
Mario Andric, Linda Neumann and Axel Fonteyne, the creative team behind the campaign, said: “We used the juxtaposition of children’s handwriting against the gruesome design of the internet to better visualise the incompatibility of both worlds. We relied heavily on craft, hand-drawing each image to better emphasise the look of a child’s handwriting and deliver the emotional impact of the idea. The visuals vary from text to drawings, taking inspiration from the different ways children often use to communicate feelings and thoughts.”