Cupid comes to life for Valentine’s Day with Snapchat’s Lens Studio
matthew.payne
The Social Scramble is a monthly innovation activation, where a team within We Are Social uses new technologies to answer a brief and build a prototype solution over two days. Here, our Head of Creative Technology in London, Matthew Payne, talks about our latest hack – the Valentine’s Day ‘Cynical Cupid’ Snapchat Lens.
The background
In December 2017 Snap Inc released Lens Studio – a new tool that allows anybody to create their own World Lens, upload their creation to Snapchat and share with friends. We decided to take the opportunity to experiment with this new technology, and have a bit of fun creating our own lens in collaboration with our international colleagues.
Our brief
Spearheaded by our Creative and Future Technology teams in London and Paris, and supported by other departments across the agency, we had to come up with a way to use the new Lens Studio to create an activation focused around Valentine’s Day.
We were given just two days to create and build an interactive experience that would put a lighthearted and social twist on spending Valentine’s Day solo. Our idea was ‘Cynical Cupid’.
The idea
Valentine’s Day has traditionally been a time for flowers, chocolates and all things hopelessly romantic. So this year we brought Cupid, one of the most recognised symbols of love, to Snapchat – but not quite as you might imagine him. Our Cupid has had enough of people asking him if they will ever find love. The not-so-happy chap has decided it’s time for him to tell the truth.
To get better acquainted with Cupid, Snapchat users can load the ‘Cynical Cupid’ World Lens through Snapchat, and it will display a 3D Cupid in all his glory. Simply ask him “Will I ever find love?” and then tap to hear his response. Prepare yourself for a rather wicked reply.
What we learned
Snapchat lenses should be kept short and fun. Facial overlays aside, augmented reality is still new to many people, so focus on creating a simple, shareable experience. Snapchat’s validation of a lens is amazingly fast, which is great when working to a tight deadline! And lastly, when creating an animation, don’t forget to animate the shadow of your object 😉
Want to hear from Cupid?
If you want to hear Cynical Cupid’s words of romantic ‘wisdom’ for yourself, simply launch Snapchat on the default camera view and hover over the Snapcode below. Once the lens is fully loaded, a pop-up will appear allowing you to unlock Cynical Cupid for 24 hours. You can then ask Cynical Cupid “Will I ever find love?” and record his reply to share with followers and friends.
If you want to find out more about how our Creative Technology team can help your brand, please get in touch.
