The gist.

To get young people interested in an internship at McMillan, we played to the stereotypes burdening them emotionally—being called lazy, entitled snowflakes—to connect with them professionally. Recognizing their sense of ambition, we delivered “tears” of previous interns to classrooms across Canada and the U.S., teasing (albeit cruelly) the real-world experience students can expect to gain working at the agency.

Some loved it. Some hated it. But applications soared 300%.