How Movistar and VML Mexico gamified an urgent warning on criminal grooming

"For mobile operator Movistar Telecom, this was a trend it couldn't ignore. 40% of its business is in gaming, so it sees it as a brand responsibility to address a growing problem affecting one of its primary audiences. "The inspiration came from a simple but terrifying truth," says Luis Madruga Enriquez, chief creative officer LATAM at VML Mexico. "For millions of young people, the screen is no longer a game; it is a hunting ground.""

"The creative team knew subtlety wouldn't work. If parents and wider society were going to listen, the warning had to come in the very language young people use every day: gaming. "That's where the spark came from, turning the medium of escape into the mirror of reality," adds Enriquez. "Movistar and VML Mexico understood that silence was not an option; the danger is growing daily, so our responsibility was to act decisively now.""

"If advertising has to live where people live, then for young audiences, that place is inside games. To create credibility, the team went all in on gaming's visual grammar, casting non-playable characters, simulating lags and shooting from a first-person perspective. "Creating a game-like film was no gimmick. It was the only credible way to enter their world. The difficulty was enormous: casting NPCs, simulating lags, shooting in POV... it was a technical feat," Enriquez admits. "But craft, when married to conviction, always finds a way.""

Organized crime recruitment in Mexico has shifted from streets to video games, using controllers and keyboards as entry points. Movistar Telecom recognized the trend because 40% of its business is in gaming and treated intervention as a brand responsibility. VML Mexico created a campaign that repurposes gaming visuals into a warning, turning escape into a wake-up call. The campaign communicates in gaming language to reach young people and parents credibly. Filmmakers cast NPCs, simulated lags, and shot in first-person perspective to mirror gameplay mechanics. The production required significant technical effort to authentically enter gamers' environments.

Read at The Drum