New Social Game Sweety High Gives Teen Girls a Shot at Stardom
Mean girls aren’t allowed at Sweety High. Instead, teen girls who play by the rules of the recently launched social game will get to reach for Disney Channel-variety stardom.
While in beta, the site gave away Justin Bieber-signed CDs and bottles of Taylor Swift’s perfume. Now public, Sweety High aims to be a platform where girls (ages 8 to 16) can watch original web series as well as create and share their own content based on their squeaky-clean aspirations. The incentives are opportunities to earn real-life cultural rewards, such as dancing with the cast of So You Think You Can Dance, interviewing YouTube phenom Greyson Chance or winning a personalized video from this year’s American Idol victor, Scotty McCreery.
Girls can participate in multimedia challenges centered on creative pursuits such as singing, dancing and design as a way to perfect their chosen craft. Along the social game’s 40 levels, they also collect “Hearts,” the virtual currency needed to unlock more exclusive programming, contests and real-world opportunities.
Sweety High Productions, the company’s studio arm, has a slate of original web series tailored to the tween/teen demographic. (Think along the lines of Project Runway but with Bratz dolls.) The series are designed by cofounder and chief creative officer Veronica Zelle, who knows a thing or two about fan-girl appreciation: she is a former pop music producer who has worked with Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. She is joined by chief strategy officer Matt Palmer, formerly of Disney and credited with launching the Hannah Montana and High School Musical franchises.
Sweety High is compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act to prevent cyber-bullying and disclosure of personal information. Non-members cannot access any personal content found on the site. Parents of girls under 13 must approve their child’s membership and are given total access to their kid’s account in order to moderate all recent activity.
The next big thing for Sweety High is February’s launch of “In Studio,” a behind-the-scenes look at the music industry. One aspiring teen singer has already been introduced to Babyface, which led to recording a track for Interscope Records. Here’s to cultivating an entire generation of Rebecca Blacks.