Outervention

“Outervention,” the new campaign for Murphy's Naturals, has a simple ask: Put your phone down and go outside. (They'll handle the bugs.)

Murphy's Naturals makes plant-based bug repellent that actually works: DEET-free formulas designed to keep mosquitoes and ticks away for hours, so getting outside feels like less of a risk and more of a relief. Between work, keeping up with current events and social media, many of us end up tethered to our phones… and end up missing out on everything the outdoors has to offer.

The campaign builds upon Murphy's award-winning "We Love Bugs" platform and goes live March 18.

Created in partnership with Fitzco, the Atlanta-based agency that unleashes brand energy, the latest campaign introduces a character, The Outerventionist: Part-therapist, part-park ranger – whose only job is to get people off their phones and outside.

Fittingly, this social-first campaign is running on Meta and TikTok, the platforms fueling the doomscroll, aiming its jokes at the very platforms delivering them: screen fatigue, meme culture, the endless doom scroll.

The Outerventionist breaks the fourth wall, encouraging people to trade screen time for green time. He clocks the doomscrolling. He shows up inside the exact feeds he’s telling you to put down.
"Getting people outside has been at the heart of Murphy's Naturals since day one,” said Julia Bethune, VP Marketing & Innovation at Murphy's Naturals. "This campaign gives that idea a character worth listening to, even mid-scroll. Fitzco understood the assignment and brought exactly the right energy to it."
"The Outerventionist is a character who calls out the exact behavior we're all guilty of," said Ryan Boblett, Head of Creative at Fitzco. "That tension is where the humor lives, and it was so much fun to use this approach to showcase Murphy’s Naturals as a leading champion of the outdoors."

Watch the 15s spots:

Screentime vs. Greentime: The Outerventionist makes his case: spending all your time indoors isn't natural, but Murphy's Naturals is. Trade screen time for green time, minus the mosquitoes and ticks.

Scrolling Alert: Styled like an emergency broadcast, complete with ticker and siren, it warns that too much screen time may result in wasting a perfectly good day. The prescription: mosquito-less strolling with up to six hours of protection.

The Signs: The Outerventionist returns to help viewers diagnose whether a loved one needs an Outervention. Symptoms: shrimp posture, startled by pings, speaking in memes.