A review of an internet project called Love Letters to The Future. Part of an assignment for On-Line Characters and Plots Development course at IDC.

2. We cannot leave it to future generations to fix our problems
or correct our mistakes

3. Description
• A project intended to
increase awareness towards
climate changes
• A glimpse into the future-
how the world would look if
we continue destroying it
• User generated letters that
express what we want to
tell the next generations
about the earth

4. Description
• November-December 2009
• 5 weeks letter collection
• 16 days ARG

5. The flow
• Loveletterstothefuture.com-asking users to produce
text/pictures/videos for future generations
• 100 best letters chosen by user votes

6. The flow
• Letters sealed in a special time capsule designated to be
opened in the year 2109
• Capsule launched at Copenhagen UN Climate Change
Conference

7. In the meantime
• Clues appearing in a portal embedded in the official
website+updates in the official blog
• Additional clues scattered around the world (Graffiti,
Augmented reality)

8. In the meantime
• Clues open up video feeds “from the future”
• Blog links to a forum where users solve the clues together
• Final video showing the world in 2109, screened at
Copenhagen conference

9. Platforms used
• Official Website->Secret portal
• Official Forum
• Official Blog
• Mobile

10. Platforms used
• Facebook
• Youtube channel

11. Real life integration
• “You'll need to leave your screen and find me outside”
• Scavenger hunt
• Use of mobile phones+AR application

12. Marketing Strategies
Celebrities & Bigshots
Jim Salinger- Francesca Pryce- David Suzuki – Lucy Lawless-Actress,
Climate Scientist Journalist Zoologist Greenpeace activist

13. Marketing Strategies
• User generated content
• Democratic vote for best 100 letters
• ARG peak at Copenhagen

14. Media Coverage
• Eastline marketing- 2 Webby awards, best green website of
the year

15. Media Coverage
Greenpeace website
• Greenpeace website: “We’re hoping the future revealed through
this game will change the present”
• Andrew Davies: “[…] This game is about imagining our future”

16. Great success?
• Official Youtube channel-16,753 views, 26 subscribers
• Copenhagen capsule launch- 2149 views
• Maya’s first video- 155 views
• Thin media coverage
• Not so great success
Why?

17. Opinions & Review
Pros
• Global cooperation – Helps spread the word
• Democratic voting system – Increases
engagement & participation
• Multiplatform
• Not too fictional…
• Emotional-”Some of your grandchildren are here
with me now”

18. Opinions & Review
(more) Pros
• Time travel fantasy
• Immersive- Staying in character
• Shocking and well played videos

19. Opinions & Review
Cons
• Time capsule – naïve idea, too kitsch and childish
• Intertextuality – corresponds with other texts
(Matrix, War of the Worlds, 2012) – Loss of
compassion
• Wasn’t taken seriously enough
• Clues didn’t encourage cooperation/collective
intelligence

20. Opinions & Review
(more) Cons
• Too ambitious – Can gaming make a better
world? a world-changing website
• A world that praises individuality leaves little
room for environmental awareness
• Short development time (linking it to COP)
• Not linking it to existing content
• Hardcore gamer community only
• Plot left unresolved