Happy Nation Launches First Metaverse Experience, Starting With a Philanthropic Partnership

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio, June 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Happy Nation, the newest brand from Victoria’s Secret & Co. (NYSE: VSCO), announced today its debut in the metaverse via an immersive integration on Roblox. The integration features a virtual Happy Nation hub with three obstacle courses (Obbys), each themed to reflect Happy Nation’s core pillars of being friendly to the planet, empowered to give, and connected to our community, including a play-to-donate partnership with philanthropic partner Undies for Everyone.

Happy Nation launched in April 2022 with early details of plans to enter the metaverse – a first for any brand within the VS&Co family. As a fully digital brand for tweens, the Happy Nation hub on the Roblox platform is a unique way the brand plans to engage this key audience and inspire giving back to the community. The hub lives within BayView, a popular role-playing experience on Roblox, and was developed in collaboration with SuperAwesome – a kidtech platform that enables safe digital engagement with young audiences around the world.

"The Happy Nation brand was launched to reflect the needs and values of Gen Alpha, with their parents in mind. Inclusivity and environmental sustainability are central to who they are. As the most tech-savvy generation yet, we wanted to introduce them to Happy Nation in the digital space where they choose to spend their time, the metaverse,” said Susan Anderson, Vice President of Creative at Happy Nation. “This is a new demographic and environment for our company. The metaverse integration has been an exciting project for our team and is a big step in our journey to authentically engage with our Happy Crew and collaborate with wonderful organizations like Undies for Everyone, providing children living in poverty or crisis with new underwear.”

Roblox community members can find the Happy Nation hub via a branded portal located in the main square within the BayView experience. From there, they can access three Obbys. From now until July 31, Happy Nation will donate one pair of undies, up to 10,500, to Undies for Everyone for each player that completes all three Obbys in the Happy Nation hub. All participants can track their individual impact via a live counter displayed in the hub.

“Underwear insecurity – the lack of sufficient, clean and size-appropriate underwear – is a growing problem in the U.S. and often creates a challenging ripple effect for children in crisis that can hinder success in the classroom and on the playground,” said Amy Weiss, executive director of Undies for Everyone. “We are excited to partner with Happy Nation providing new underwear to children who need it most, recognizing the importance of this small basic need as part of a child’s increased chances of long-term success.”

The three Obbys encourage sustainability, giving back and collaborating:

• Friendly to the Planet: An Obby focused on ecological and sustainability themes where Happy Nation bees pollinate flowers until they bloom to the point where competitors can jump on them to reach higher levels. This Obby also includes a butterfly-guided maze.
• Empowered to Give: An Obby designed to encourage giving to others by having participants collect presents along the course that they gift to a non-player character (NPC) at the end of the game.
• Connected to Our Community: A friendship-themed Obby that fosters collaboration as community members work in groups of three to overcome obstacles.
  

The timed course can be explored in any order and involves running, jumping and solving puzzles while collecting Happy Nation rainbows to fill a personal “Happy Meter” along the way. Completely filling the meter results in celebratory fireworks, a boost in speed and doubled points for collecting rainbows until the end of the Obby.

There’s a virtual Happy Nation tote bag reward for completing one Obby. While in the hub area, visitors can check out the Happy Nation capsule collection, visit the photo booth, relax in the outdoor lounge area or go to the Wall of Happy, displaying usernames of those who completed all three Obbys.

"The pre-teen and tween audiences of today are coming of age at a time when immersive games and early metaverse experiences are increasingly well-established,” said Jon Hamblin, Gaming Creative Director for SuperAwesome. “These spaces are so popular because they allow gamers to express their identities, think critically, socialize and learn new skill sets. Happy Nation’s integration builds on all of this by piquing imagination with its bright, gender-free and fun Obbys that also make a difference for others IRL. The experience is innovative, entertaining and gives back to a charitable cause - all key elements of a Happy Nation!"

For more information about Happy Nation, please visit https://happynation.com/. 

About Happy Nation

Happy Nation is a fully digital retail brand by Victoria’s Secret & Co. offering a range of size-inclusive and gender-free products including sweats, swim, bras, undies and body care for tweens. Inspired by the generation it serves, the brand empowers others to give back, care for others and care for our planet. Happy Nation fosters a judgment-free community that is supportive and accepting of tweens during some of the most transformative years of their lives.

About SuperAwesome
SuperAwesome is making the internet safer for young audiences. The company’s youth digital content marketplace enables safe, compliant digital engagement with kids and young teens around the world. SuperAwesome is used by hundreds of brands and thousands of developers to enable over 12.5B safe transactions every month. Founded in 2013, the company was acquired by Epic Games in 2020. For more information, please visit www.SuperAwesome.com.

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