The Age Problem
A math problem posted on Facebook that made 7.8 million people realize they'd just calculated the age of a child bride.
The Idea
Make people
complicit in the math.
Instead of telling people about child marriage, I made them calculate it themselves without realizing what they were doing.
A simple math problem was posted to Facebook: "Ahmet is 32, his wife Leyla is 14. What is the sum of their ages 3 years ago?" People answered enthusiastically — 40, they said. They were right. And then they understood what they had just done.
The trap wasn't the math. The trap was the moment of realization after. That's what caused the freakout. That's what made it spread.
The Result
A public freakout.
By design.
7.8 million views with zero media budget. The post spread organically because the trap worked, people shared it to show others, to warn others, to process what they had just realized.
Signatures on kizlarasozver.org jumped to 5 times the previous record. The campaign was covered in major Turkish publications and picked up internationally. It won Silver at the Crystal Apple Awards, Turkey's most prestigious advertising prize.
One Facebook post. One math problem. One realization nobody could undo.