As younger generations look for ways to shake off their stifling tech dependence, getting out in nature offers a solution to help switch off. Ordnance Survey’s latest campaign champions just this, showing how a spell outdoors can be the remedy to the perpetual noise of digital lives.
Ordnance Survey Maps have launched a new campaign ‘Get Real’, an invitation to the screen-weary to step away from their devices and explore what nature has to offer. Featuring themes of overconsumption, burnout and doomscrolling – the holy trinity of contemporary malaise – the films visualise how stifling and constricting these can be. The solution? Break out of the trap and Get Real, swapping the confines of the digital for the expansive freedom of the great outdoors. Following on from their Touch Grass campaign from 2025, these ads continue to shape OS’s brand positioning beyond a functional tool, into a facilitator of exploration, wellbeing and logging off.
As people grapple with their over-reliance on all things digital, getting out in nature is one way to counteract tech addiction. And younger generations want to get outside; 76% of children in the UK said they would like to spend more time outdoors. It makes sense, research has consistently shown that even short spells in nature can lift your mood, reduce stress and improve physical performance. Certain groups are embracing this; hiking, trail running and even bird-watching have all grown in popularity with Gen Z, but access remains a barrier.
Teen social media bans – including the one planned for the UK – highlight the concern institutions have around platform dependency and how this is impacting future generations. One of the major counter-arguments to these bans raises the question of what young people are expected to do when so much IRL social infrastructure has been repeatedly deprioritised and defunded. As people look for ways to get offline, brands can help facilitate these experiences, not only showing up in their feeds, but nudging them away from them as well.
