Alcoholics Anonymous to celebrate its 65th anniversary with three agency pronged ad blitz
On 10 June, 2010, Alcoholics Anonymous Australia (AA) celebrates its 65th anniversary with an historic event – the launch of AA’s first tri-pronged, national, media campaign, of community service announcements made in Australia.
For 65 years, AA has primarily depended on CSA’s from AA in the US and UK. Now, with the co-operation of three Australian ad agencies specialising in social marketing – and the enthusiastic support of the Australian media environment – three stylistically different information campaigns are geared to hit our screens and airwaves, one agency’s campaign at a time.
The first cab-off-the-rank is Grey Healthcare Group, Sydney:
VIEW TVC 1 SPOT (via Grey Healthcare):
VIEW TVC 2 SPOT (via Grey Healthcare):
VIEW RADIO SPOT (via Grey Healthcare):
Says Tim Brieley, GHG creative director: “The concept we developed forAA: ‘Alcohol just not fun anymore?’ zeroes in on the isolation andsocial separation that often results from long-term problem drinking -when sadly, the fun doesn’t outweigh the effects. At this point, helpand support for the drinker is needed from people who understand andhave been there themselves”.
The GHG campaign, running from end of May to end of August, comprisestwo 15-second TV CSA’s, radio, print, outdoor and digital media. Twomassive GHG billboard posters are currently making their debuts atSydney’s Wynyard (platform 3) and Kings Cross stations.
The second campaign, by Gatecrasher, Perth, will air fromSeptember to the end of 2010. “The point of the campaign,” explainscreative partner Adam Barker, “Is that alcoholics don’t need to be toldthey’ve got a problem, they simply need to know that there’s asolution. Our ads are designed to show the emotional turmoil of thedrinker and clearly spell out that AA could be the answer”. Thecampaign comprises three 30-second “dramatised” spots plus one forradio.
The third campaign by Working Three, Melbourne, is slated to airin 2011. WT digital strategist and partner Christian Green says: “Thecampaign, for young drinkers, evolves around a purpose-built socialmedia website and demonstrates that strategic online communication canbe used to ‘soften’ a subject that is usually perceived as’threatening’.” To point users to the site, the campaign will includeTV CSA’s, print, outdoor and radio media.
10 Comments
65th eh! Sounds like a great excuse for a piss-up.
champain? yous fullas must have been shit faced when you wrote these eh.
Regardless of the quality of each agency’s work, which may well be great, inconsistency of brand here must be a huge danger with this approach. Surely a wider-ranging brief to just one of these agencies would yield a tighter result in this kind of staged campaign.
Champagne for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends!
Tricks and stunts enough to drive you to drink.
free bar!
Yes my name is Anonymous.
I am this advertising campaign and I have a problem.
I’m going out for a jug of beer. And it’s only 10:45am.
As an alcoholic, I’m sorry, but I don’t relate to these. They don’t even make me feel bad about what I do, even when I don’t mean it, they just… sorry guys but it doesn’t work for me.
I know my situation, I know it’s crap for me and others around me and that’s just… unfortunately how it is. If I could change it, I would. But, no matter what I do, I am who I am. Sadly.
Alcoholism isn’t a slapstick humorous occasion. The TVC’s don’t work on that level. I don’t know who you’re targeting, but you haven’t even penetrated the existing guilt of missing my sons christening, my daughters engagement party or even the canne lion ceremony I missed a few years ago (because I was holed up in my hotel room with …. yep. Not strippers or girls…. a £700 bottle of Cotes dú Rhone.)
The radio is what alcoholics experience on most days. Like not being invited to your daughters wedding. Yes, it’s horrible for yourself, and your little girl. But far from showing the fact in a true, hard hitting, gut wrenching way, you chose a very soft route.
And that route isn’t right either.
If you can somehow show the positive route for giving up (instead of making us all feel like a bag of lung cancer, which cigarette ads do) you may be more effective.
Alcoholics feel like shit after what they do. The feel like shit when they do it. They can’t help it. Trust me.
This fails on so many levels for me, and I’m the target.
Signed,
The blushing pipsqueak.