South Australia Police spits the dummy at young drivers in new safety campaign via Showpony

South Australia Police has launched a new campaign in collaboration with Showpony, designed to encourage young male drivers to  be safer on the road.

Recognising that the target audience isn’t receptive to traditional road safety messaging, the campaign “Sucks to be you”, directed by David Ockenden for Proetic Productions, takes an unconventional approach.

Using absurd humour, the campaign highlights the real-world consequences of dangerous driving, with grown men who’ve lost their licence portrayed as literal “man-babies,” forced to rely on their mates, mums, girlfriends and co-workers just to get around.

Says Richard Blackwell, Manager, Road Safety, Government Advertising and Insights Hub, Department of the Premier and Cabinet: “Young male drivers are overrepresented in fatal and serious car accidents in South Australia. But research shows these drivers – despite the evidence to the contrary – believe they have everything under control. The most compelling proposition to motivate young people remains the loss of licence. Or put another way, they fear social death more than death itself.”

Says Rory Kennett Lister, Creative Director, Showpony: “We know our target isn’t motivated by traditional scare campaigns. So we decided to use the only thing that genuinely frightens them – being uncool.”

“When you lose your licence, you don’t just lose your wheels – you lose your freedom. Unless you can bankroll Ubers everywhere, you become a burden on everyone around you,” says Kennett-Lister. “This campaign uses comedy to make a very real point; if you act like a child behind the wheel, you’ll end up being treated like one.”

At the heart of the campaign are a series of videos, directed by Ockenden, portraying scenes familiar to the target audience, with one twist – man babies.

Recognising that the media-savvy target is hard to reach using conventional executions, the videos are shot to resemble user-generated videos. The quick, unfiltered and phone-shot approach is designed to disarm the skip-ready viewers by making each piece feel more like a native video than a government safety message.

To maximise impact, starkly different executions were created for different platforms.

Says Gail D’Arrigo, Account Director: “We know what works on TikTok is different to what works on YouTube. We built creative that felt natural within each medium.”

The campaign is rounded out by statics (shot by Neasan) featuring the hapless man-babies and rewritten lullabies for radio, ensuring that wherever young drivers are, they get the message – if you lose your licence, it sucks to be you.

Listen to the radio spot:

Client: South Australia Police
Manager, Road Safety, Government Advertising and Insights Hub, Department of the Premier and Cabinet: Richard Blackwell
Senior Advertising Campaign Officer, Government Advertising and Insights Hub, Department of the Premier and Cabinet: Elke Brintrup Krueger
Campaign Coordinator, Government Advertising and Insights Hub, Department of the Premier and Cabinet: Laura Perry

Agency: Showpony
Executive Creative Director: Parris Mesidis
Managing Director: Jamie Scott
Creative Director: Rory Kennett-Lister
Senior Creative: Andy Scott
Art Director: Annika Turon-Semmens
Junior Copywriter: Albert Hopkins
Account Director: Gail D’Arrigo
Senior Account Manager: Julia Palombo
Agency Producer: Alex O’Neil

Production Company: Proetic Productions
Producer: Erica Ockenden
Director: David Ockenden
DOP: Riley Scott
Sound Recordist: Lachlan Coles

Sound Design: Scott Illingworth at Seeing Sounds
Animation and CG: Sam Matthews
Photographer: Neasan
Retoucher: Jonathan Eadie

Media: Wavemaker

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