Pills Vs. Candy: A Case Study of a Popular Online Game

Background:  Poison exposure is the 2nd leading cause of injury and death to children 0-5 years in the U.S. Nationally, nearly 80% of poison exposures occur in the home and 51% involve children under 5 years of age. However, parents are largely unaware of poisoning risks, often confused about poisoning prevention strategies and unaware of poison control centers as a resource. Data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers shows OTC and prescription medications accounting for the majority of exposures in children. In focus groups, parents report concern around colorful “pills” that can be mistaken for a treat. 

Program background:  In 2010, online games overtook personal email to become the second biggest activity behind social networks.  To leverage the popularity of playing online games for health promotion, “Pills vs. Candy” was developed and launched within three weeks. The game delivers a simple message--that OTC medications commonly found at home can pose a significant danger to children and that pills and candy may appear indistinguishable. The game, in English at http://www.pillsvscandy.com/ and Spanish at http://medicinasvsdulces.org/, asks players to identify seemingly identical pairs of medicine and candy by tapping on a photo. Answers are shown with the next pairing and player scores are tabulated. Scores can be directly posted on Facebook or Twitter from the site. Players can also submit ideas for other look-alike pairs.

Evaluation Methods and Results:  In its first 2 months, the game had 12,000 visits. Most visitors played to the end and scored 65% correct. The initial “bounce rate” (percentage of visitors who "bounced" away to a different site, rather than continue on) was a low 22%. At first, the majority of traffic was direct, but as promotion efforts increased, the number of visitors referred from other sites has grown by 200%. Most recent data shows 409 visits in March 2011, a lowered bounce rate of 14%, and a 61% increase in traffic from referring websites.

Conclusions:  The game has had enormous success with parents and teachers who report playing with kids. The game fits well within the overall promotion and marketing strategy of the organizations and has drawn valuable attention to poison control services, increasing media mentions of the service by nearly 40%.

Implications for research and/or practice:  As part of a an overall social marketing strategy, online and social games have enormous potential to deliver serious messages. They can also be a cost-effective way to reach a larger audience for budget-conscious public health programs.