Veris Health Network's 'Report This Ad' Reaches the Invisible Frontline of Social Media

Every day, thousands of content moderators around the world face the same task: reviewing reported posts that contain violence, abuse, or traumatic imagery. Their work is invisible. Their identities are anonymous. And the emotional toll is often ignored.

To support them, Veris, an Ecuadorian health network, partnered with Paradais DDB to launch 'Report This Ad' - a campaign that turned social media reports into a new kind of message: one offering help.

Instead of asking people to like, share, or comment, users were invited to report the ads. Over 500 ads were uploaded across platforms, carefully designed to be flagged by users and reviewed by content moderators. Each reported post triggered a review - and delivered a hidden message offering free, anonymous psychological support.

“We realised the only system that always reaches a moderator is the one they work with - the report button,” said Tyto Garces, creative director at Paradais DDB. "So instead of treating them like an audience, we used the same system they interact with every day to deliver our message."

The message was adapted across multiple platforms and communities, ensuring maximum reach. In just two months, over 500 moderators contacted Veris for help. But the campaign did more than reach them - it also got everyday users thinking about the mental cost of the content they consume. Visits from first-time users to Veris’s psychological department rose by 117%.

“This idea came from empathy, but also from insight,” said Tyto. “Moderators are people we never see - but who see everything. We wanted to let them know that someone sees them, too.”