Daughters Of The Evolution: Lessons In Herstory
Daughters Of The Evolution wanted to address the severe lack of female representation in U.S. history textbooks. Working with Goodby Silverstein & Partners, they aimed to reach middle school students and teachers. The goal was to find a fast, scalable way to diversify history education without waiting for the slow, expensive process of textbook publishers updating and reprinting physical books.
Creative Idea
Used AR to turn male textbook portraits into portals for forgotten women's stories.
To combat the gender imbalance in education, the campaign used AR to hijack male-dominated history textbooks. By scanning portraits of men, students unlocked the hidden stories of forgotten women from the same era, turning static books into inclusive learning tools.
Hijacking History One Portrait At A Time
The AR Trojan Horse
Rather than waiting for the glacial pace of textbook publishing cycles, Goodby Silverstein & Partners utilized GS&P Labs to develop a "hijack" strategy. The team specifically targeted *A History of US, Book 5: Liberty for All? 1820 - 1860*, a staple in American middle schools. By using augmented reality to recognize the faces of male historical figures, they turned static pages into interactive portals. For example, scanning Abraham Lincoln reveals the story of Rebecca Pomroy, while scanning President Zachary Taylor introduces Cathay Williams, the first African American woman to enlist in the U.S. Army.
From SXSW to the Smithsonian
The project, which began as a panel discussion at Cannes Lions, launched at SXSW 2019 and achieved immediate scale. It earned 88 million impressions in its first month and was named Apple App of the Day, driving over 21,000 downloads. Beyond digital metrics, the app achieved institutional permanence by being integrated into curricula across 7 U.S. states. The success of the mobile tool even led to development talks with the Smithsonian Institution to bring the AR experience into physical museum exhibits.
A New Narrative for Girls
CCO Margaret Johnson and feminist historian Kate Schatz designed the app to address the fact that less than 11% of textbook content is devoted to women. As Johnson noted, "You can’t be what you can’t see." By featuring 75 women from the 19th century, the campaign proved that AR could serve as a tool for educational activism rather than just gaming. The production involved Breaktide Productions and director Reaa Puri, ensuring the stories of these forgotten figures were told with historical accuracy and cinematic quality.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
A nonprofit dedicated to female empowerment and educational equity through innovative storytelling.
Category
Educational materials move slowly, leaving outdated and biased narratives in classrooms for decades.
Customer
Students and teachers wanted a more representative history but were stuck with traditional, male-centric textbooks.
Culture
A growing cultural demand for gender equality and the herstory movement to rewrite biased historical narratives.
Company
A nonprofit dedicated to female empowerment and educational equity through innovative storytelling.
Category
Educational materials move slowly, leaving outdated and biased narratives in classrooms for decades.
Strategy:
Use technology to augment existing infrastructure, bypassing institutional inertia to deliver immediate representation.
Customer
Students and teachers wanted a more representative history but were stuck with traditional, male-centric textbooks.
Culture
A growing cultural demand for gender equality and the herstory movement to rewrite biased historical narratives.
Strategy:
Use technology to augment existing infrastructure, bypassing institutional inertia to deliver immediate representation.
Results
The campaign reached thousands of schools and impacted millions of printed books. It targeted a potential audience of 59 million students in the U.S. The app received significant media coverage from major outlets including Fortune, ABC News, The Drum, Fast Company, and Yahoo!. It was also highlighted by UN Women for its role in bringing attention to overlooked women in history.
59M
potential student audience
Millions
of printed books changed
Thousands
of schools reached
Strategy Technique
Build an Utility, Not an Ad
Instead of just raising awareness about gender bias, the brand created a functional educational tool that teachers and students could use immediately to fix the problem in their classrooms.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Hijack the Medium
The campaign used AR technology to overlay new content onto existing, physical textbooks. By using the books themselves as the trigger, it bypassed the slow process of institutional curriculum changes.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
The campaign's excellence lies in its innovative use of technology to solve a systemic educational issue, combined with high-quality, engaging visual design.
The use of AR to 'hack' existing textbooks is a brilliant and scalable solution to a long-standing content problem.
The vibrant, comic-style artwork makes historical figures accessible and engaging for a younger audience.
The app's UI/UX is clean and intuitive, making the educational experience seamless and fun.
The messaging is clear, impactful, and successfully reclaims the term 'history' as 'herstory'.
The synergy between the clever AR technology and the engaging illustration style turns a static textbook into an interactive learning platform.
