DRINK DRIVING MYTHS BUSTED IN LATEST VICTORIAN TAC CAMPAIGN VIA CLEMENGER BBDO, MELBOURNE
Forget the tricks you think will help you stay under the 0.05 Blood Alcohol Concentration limit or suffer the consequences. This is the message in a myth-busting campaign via Clemenger BBDO, for Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission.
TAC’s new ‘Drink Driving: Stop Kidding Yourself’ campaign challenges drivers’ belief in myths associated with drink driving, with the aim to encourage them to ultimately make the choice to separate drinking from driving, on every occasion.
It follows insights that revealed more than four in 10 Victorian drivers (41%) say they will drive after drinking, despite the fact one in five drivers killed on the state’s roads have a BAC on or above the 0.05 limit. The choice to drive is often rooted in the misguided belief that it’s OK to drive after two or three drinks as long as you’ve paced yourself, consumed lots of water or eaten a big meal.
Launching across TV, online video, cinema, OOH, social, digital and radio, the campaign is directed at all drivers in Victoria, with a particular focus on males who are over-represented within drink driving instances.
The hero film features a confident, 30-something male speaking directly to camera as he lists the rules of thumb he blindly follows to stay under 0.05. As he rattles off this list, we start to realise that these ‘rules’ are nothing more than myths.
Says Tracey Slatter, CEO of the TAC: “As we head into summer and the festive season, this campaign is a timely reminder to Victorians that drinking and driving don’t mix. We want to embrace a culture where driving after drinking any alcohol is not considered normal.”
“Many people think they can manage their blood-alcohol level by following a set of vague rules handed down through generations, but the only way to avoid the risk entirely is to completely separate drinking and driving.”
Adds Richard Williams, Executive Creative Director at Clemenger BBDO: “This campaign is about changing an ingrained community behavior. It’s about debunking myths, and most importantly it’s about reminding drivers that there is no grey area – if you drink, don’t drive.”
Phase one of the Drink Driving: Stop Kidding Yourself campaign launches today and runs until 31 January 2024.
Agency: Clemenger BBDO
Executive Creative Director: Richard Williams
Senior Copywriter: Tom Vizard
Junior Art Director: Nathan Va
Junior Copywriter: Ben Hall
National Traffic Manager: Karen Kushinsky
Strategy Partner: Mike Ronkoske
Planning Director: Leigh Arbon
Managing Partner: Jason Melhuish
Senior Business Director: James Kerr
Senior Business Manager: Elyse Paone
Business Manager: Tom von Stieglitz
Production Director: Lisa Moro
Producer: Amalia Makris
Senior Editor: Jennifer Cahir
Digital Executive Director: Claire Bisset
Lead Digital Designer: Justin Tumilaar
Head of Studio: Matt Gauci
Finished Artist: Sam Tsui
Production Company: EXIT Films
Director: Glendyn Ivin
Executive Producer: Leah Churchill-Brown
Producer: Alice Grant
DoP: Sam Chiplin
Casting Director: Megan D’Arcy (Nick Hamon Casting)
Production Designer: Leah Popple
Post Production House: The Editors
Post Production Producer: Charlotte Griffiths
Offline Editor: Jack Hutchings
Colourist: Trish Cahill
Online Artist: Eugene Richards
Sound House: SqueakE Clean Studios
Sound Engineer: Paul LeCouteur
Media: OMD
Client: TAC
Senior Manager, Marketing and Partnerships: John Thompson
Team Leader, Marketing and Communications: Liz Jones
Campaign Manager, Marketing: Nardia Brancatisano
Campaign Co-Ordinator, Marketing: Michaela Clayton
14 Comments
Ripping apart the Clems legacy of good work with each new campaign. TAC haven’t been great for a while, but this is just mediocre government wallpaper. It’s like they managed to film the brief.
We had the cops launch the original booze bus at our school to parents and kids 30+ years ago. And a cop said, ‘two in the first hour, one after that’ – standard drinks.
There’s a fair chance that any viewer not paying 100% attention might simply mistake the re-told ‘myths’ as gospel and completely miss the point of this spot. Most people are either not very bright, or don’t work in advertising. There’s an idea in challenging the old maxims about drink driving, but this execution is too subtle for 99% of the population.
What happened to you?
Don’t blame Clems for this. Clearly a client/research ad.
Feels very police state. Whats wrong with responsible drinking.
To stay below the 0.05 BAC limit, drivers are advised to limit their drinking to one standard drink per hour if you are a female and two standard drinks in the first hour, and one standard drink each hour after that if you are a male.
You will probably have a lower blood alcohol level if you drink while eating.
https://www.tac.vic.gov.au/road-safety/statistics/summaries/archived/drink-driving-statistics/effects-of-alcohol
Oh my! Tax payers $$$$ at work. Thanks for clearing that up Clems. Oh my, oh!
There are A LOT of questions to ask here….
This looks like it was written by the client. There isn’t a single emotive shot in the whole thing.
I really want to believe this isn’t a production problem…
I can’t imagine there was even a treatment for this?
Why would a client want to put out such uninspiring work…?
What a terrible ad. This did nothing to convey the message. No doubt they will put this on tv as well. I mean who even watches free to air these days. Everyone’s on their phone, streaming services so you will only further miss your target.
You would have a much bigger impact of you were to subsidise the cost of a personal breathalyzer for road users or even provide them free to the most at risk.
You can pick one up on special for $100 fairly easily so imagine it’s subsidised through the tac website and costs maybe $50 to purchase. You could possibly change the laws to state that to apply for your driver’s licence you must have such a device and it could easily be packaged into the cost of getting your licence.
I have no idea what it costs these days to sit the test and do your driving test but let’s say it’s $300 so with a device it’s now $350 and everyone on the road will at least have one to check their Bac.
Sure it’s not a perfect scenario and it still leaves choice on the table for drivers to still break the law but it’s a much better scenario with a chance to make a difference compared to these ads which have no impact what so ever.
In their own words, the party’s over.
For one, as someone has already pointed out, the message goes against the TACs own guide.
Two the creative is so lazy you miss the message anyway.
The work of late has been beyond disappointing. Maybe time to roll it into CHEP?
To stay below the 0.05 BAC limit, drivers are advised to limit their drinking to one standard drink per hour if you are a female and two standard drinks in the first hour, and one standard drink each hour after that if you are a male.
This is what you’re taught at the compulsory course after a drink driving charge, I know from experience.
My offence was very low range (.052) and several hours after my last drink (10 hours). Yes I’d had a big night, but with the information I leaned on the course I can now accurately monitor whether I should drive or not.
I also purchased a high quality breathalyzer as a secondary check, the methodology above is surprisingly reliable.
I’ve advised my friends of all of the above and most of them now use the same system and a few have purchased a breathalyzer. Unfortunately, some still drive when they shouldn’t.
I wish the TAC ads were more informative, educational and pro-active.
Shock value has its place, but many people, young men in particular, will ignore it as it’s not really teaching them anything they don’t know.
Must be a client ad because no creative agency would ever come up with this idea or execution.
@Andrew – great suggestions but thank god you’re not my media planner…no one watches free to air…bahahaha