SA Police launches controversial new Road Safety campaign via Black Sheep Advertising

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South Australian Police has launched a controversial road safety campaign via Black Sheep Advertising.

 

You can call people a bastard and it will roll off them like water off a duck’s back. But call them selfish and suddenly you’re under their skin. Selfishness, it seems, is not a human trait we want to be tarnished with.

This is the thinking that underpins the campaign for the South Australian Police.

Says Richard Blackwell, manager media road safety at SAPOL: “It’s challenging to keep coming up with new and impactful road safety campaigns.

“So this campaign approaches the issue from a different perspective and delivers it with a punch.”

Says Andrew Millar, creative director and principal at Black Sheep Advertising: “The insights showed that people’s number one reason for drink driving is convenience – that it’s just easier for them.

“So we wanted to get into the heads of drink drivers and contrast their excuses with the potential consequences for themselves and those around them.

“At its core, we realised drink driving is one of the most selfish thing you can do.”

Inspired somewhat by the classic Bloody Idiot campaign, this campaign delivers the message from the perspective of the drink driver featured.

Says Millar: “It was important that this message wasn’t delivered to the target audience from the mouth of the Police. People would ignore it.

“We didn’t want people wearing their drink driving efforts on their shirts as a badge of pride.”

The primary target for this campaign, as with many drink driving campaigns are young males, often regular pub-goers, who repeatedly drink and then drive.

It was this audience, as well as the recent horrific road toll, particularly amongst young men that helped get the choice to use the controversial word ‘Prick’ across the line.

The campaign was shown to South Australian drink drivers to determine if it had been taken too far and if the public would be offended.

Says Blackwell: “The overwhelming response was that if it gets drink drivers off the road and gets them to change the behaviour, then it’s worth it.”

“We expect it will cause some debate, but perhaps we should have pushed it further. The research suggested stronger language could have been used!” laughs Millar.


The ‘Drink Drive. Selfish Prick.’ campaign launches Friday 26th March across free to air, catchup TV, cinema, radio, outdoor, transit, digital and within venues.

This is the first campaign Black Sheep Advertising has produced for SAPOL.

Client: SAPOL
Manager, Media Road Safety: Richard Blackwell
Creative Agency: Black Sheep Advertising
Creative Director: Andrew Millar
Account Director: Tom Ootes
Senior Account Manager: Daniel Wilde
Creative: Danilo Watanabe, Julie Martin, Franwyn Botha, Michael Gagliardi
Strategic Consultants: John McLaren, Peter Withy
Production Company: Proetic
Producer: Erica Ockenden
Director: David Ockenden
DOP: Miles Rowland
Sound: Seeing Sounds
Post Production: Visualizm
Photographer: Richard Lyons
Social Videos: Riley Scott
Casting: Heesom Casting
Media Agency: Wavemaker