Aotearoa has seen an increase in vaping use by rangatahi, with survey data revealing between 2019 and 2021, the percentage of young people vaping daily more than tripled.
In collaboration with our team of co-designers, the Hā Collective, and partners Te Whatu Ora, we created Protect Your Breath – a campaign that aims to reduce vaping harm for young people by anchoring itself in the realities and ideas of rangatahi.
The campaign centres the power of hā – our breath. It seeks to offer young people a moment to become mindful of their breath, encourages rangatahi to reflect on their values and build confidence in the choices they make.
Punitive messaging rarely holds effectiveness or impact for young people, so the campaign takes a non-judgmental approach and supports critical decision-making, encouraging rangatahi to reflect on their values, culture, strengths, goals, and aspirations, and build confidence in the choices they make.
Rangatahi are media savvy and quick to dismiss content that doesn’t feel like it’s authentically ‘them’. Developed with our Hā Collective of young people, the Protect Your Breath campaign’s playful visual style reflects the many influences that make up young people’s worlds, and creates a platform where easy messaging and conversation can occur, delivering easy-to-find, easy-to-share, snackable information in the places they already spend their time.
The campaign has been extended to a playful real-world experience with the Later Vaper Arcade, and with a six-episode meditative podcast which provides a crafted audio moment where rangatahi can pause, connect to their breath and think about how it’s a part of everything we do.a playful pop-up that is hosted in various locations across the motu.
The arcade experience is a bright, bold and unmissable interactive space that purposely piques curiosity of the passer-by and draws them in. Once inside, participants are challenged with fun games that metaphorically reference breath and fresh air, and playfully posit thought starters about vaping and its effects. As people move through the experience they actively gather provocations and takeaways that help them to reframe their thinking on vape use.
In the arcade the sequencing of games follows a strong narrative – from checking in with yourself, connecting to your breath, thinking about how it fuels you, finding an opportunity to find balance through breath, and using the power of play to manage stress.
Layered into this narrative is a foundational cultural framework, linking each of our games and messages to Māori conceptions of hā, progressing through: hā, au, hau and hauhā. This creates a metaphorical foundation that speaks to the breathing cycle: the power of breath, the vital essence within us, strength in self, and the value of play and release.
Meanwhile the Connect to Hā audio series implicitly connects with one or many of these concepts in different ways, there are moments that explicitly surface these ideas for the listener, encouraging them to understand the power of their breath through this cycle from hā to hauhā. The series builds towards our final episode – Tihei Mauri Ora – which goes into more depth to tell the story of Tāne and Hineahuone and the origins of the phrase ‘tihei mauri ora’ – the breath of life that signalled the beginnings of the ira tangata.
The campaign has contributed to reports of a decrease in regular vaping. The ASH Y10 Snapshot Survey, November 2023 indicated a downward trend in ‘daily youth vaping rates’. ‘Regular vaping’ and ‘ever tried’ vaping decreased by a statistically significant amount for most population groups of young people.
