Vans Warped Tour is loud, sweaty, and packed. In the middle of its recent D.C. and Long Beach stops stood a bright pink tent with a custom photo booth built into a road case.
This was the “get emo with fomo” booth, and it was doing something most booths never try: inviting festivalgoers to share their breast cancer stories on video.
Behind it was Keep A Breast, the breast cancer nonprofit.
They ran the experience on Simple Booth’s HALO app and hardware, using it as a branded video photo booth and sharing the clips with the world. It’s a clear example of how a mission-driven team can turn a festival crowd into real connections.
A nonprofit that does things differently
Art, education, prevention, action: that’s how Keep A Breast fights breast cancer, in culture rather than clinical language.
The “i love boobies!” campaign gets worn on stage by touring artists, and the free self-check app has been downloaded more than 50,000 times across roughly 120 countries. The team meets people where they already are, partnering with tattoo parlors, sunglass brands, and music festivals to reach a wider, more diverse audience.
Camille Lozano, Keep A Breast’s former Marketing Communications Director, puts the approach simply.
“Everybody has a chest, right? So we reach people where they are, with the language they use and the experiences they’re into.”
– Camille Lozano
The connection to Warped Tour started with the cast-art program the nonprofit was built on. In it, people turn a plaster cast of their own chest into a decorated sculpture as a way to process a diagnosis and start a conversation about breast health. Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman saw that work and reached out to Keep A Breast’s founder, Shaney Jo Darden.
This year, the tent drew longtime supporters who already know the mission, along with new fans who spotted “i love boobies!” shirts on stage and came over to learn more.
From whiteboards to a custom video booth
The video booth built on an idea Keep A Breast had used before. The org once ran a reflection campaign with whiteboards, where people finished the sentence “I wear my ‘i love boobies!’ bracelet because,” then posed with their answer.
This year the team revived it with a new twist: instead of a whiteboard, people shared their stories on video, capturing something the whiteboards never could.
“To be able to capture those stories was important testimony we hadn’t had before. It really is a proof point of the work we’re doing.”
– Camille Lozano
fomo reached out to Keep A Breast and came on as the sponsor and storytelling partner. The company was drawn to the idea of people opening up on camera and wanted to be part of it.
Together they built the “get emo with fomo” booth around one belief: sometimes hearing a single story is what moves a person to check themselves.
A custom photo booth built to survive the tour
Shaney Jo worked with their custom builder to fit Simple Booth’s HALO hardware into a road case, designing a booth that reflects the hands-on, punk rock approach the org brings to everything it creates.
This was one stop of many, so it had to ship easily, fit in tour buses, and survive a full summer on the road. The build lets them angle the mounted display, tuck the components out of sight, and keep a seamless branded backing. Open the case and the screen is right there, ready to record.
Inside the app, every detail matched the brand. A custom start screen and a custom overlay made each photo and video come out looking unmistakably like Keep A Breast and fomo. HALO’s video layout records footage with audio built in, and the flexible setup left room to tailor the rest.
The team added a handheld mic that guests would feel comfortable holding while they shared their stories. It was a small touch that fit the energy of Warped Tour.
Camille sums up the build in the spirit the org is known for.
“A boundary-pushing level up. We’ve always been about taking a punk rock approach to our work, taking things apart and piecing them together for our purposes. It took trial and error, collaboration, excellent Simple Booth chat support, and determination, but we made it happen.”
– Camille Lozano
What happened at the tent
The booth sat at the center of a full activation. There were breastology pillows that teach breast health, “Check Yourself” cards, and download cards for the free self-check app. Volunteers shared the work, and a few musical artists stopped by for meet-and-greet moments.
One moment stuck with the team. A young woman stepped up to record, pointed to a spot on her chest, and shared that she had just had a lumpectomy. That was what the booth was there for.
“She looked like my age. I do this work every day, and for me it was like, man, this is happening.”
– Camille Lozano
Turning stories into lasting connection
Across the tour’s first two stops, the booth captured 538 photos and videos and 532 new leads. Almost everyone who took part opted in to share their contact information. That rate sits well above the 87% average for HALO users.
Camille chalks it up to a culture where people assume their data is already out there, plus genuine goodwill toward the org.
Those contacts sync to the team’s email and text tools through a MailChimp connection, so follow-up continues long after the show. The nonprofit also embedded the HALO gallery right on its own fomo page. Visitors can watch the videos, learn what fomo stands for, and click through to the mission or donate. So far, the photos and videos have drawn 1,654 views and 247 shares.
Camille tied it all back to the mission.
“Through this activation, we gave people the chance to share their story, to ‘get emo’ and open up, because sometimes hearing a story is what empowers someone to take action.”
– Camille Lozano
The sky is the limit
The booth is already heading to more Warped Tour dates, and the team sees it going further still.
“Because of the versatility of the tools and how we’ve built out our custom case, the Simple Booth equipment will allow us even greater opportunities to spread our message, at other festivals, community events, open houses, partnership activations and beyond. The sky really is the limit.”
– Camille Lozano
At Warped Tour, the booth gave people a place to get emo and open up. For any org weighing something similar, the team’s advice is simple.
“We would say do it. Anyone who’s looking for a great way to tell the story of their mission and organization can find value in using Simple Booth.”
– Camille Lozano
Ready to turn your next event into stories worth sharing? See what a custom photo booth can do for your mission.