Most people are aware of the risks associated with drinking and driving. However, there is a young, hard-to-reach group who still choose to ignore them.
Each year, 150 young adult drivers crash because they’re driving under the influence of alcohol (an average of three crashes a week.) This group perceive any potential risk as being too low or too remote a possibility to worry about: ‘It won’t happen to me.’ Experience tells them they can get away with it.
Video advertising
The target audience
This campaign primarily targets young males, 20 – 29 years old, who predominantly live in rural and provincial parts of NZ. They have developed a level of complacency towards driving. – they’re willing to chance it, confident that nothing will go wrong.
They know how to create a good time in their hometown, and drinking is a big part of their lives. They drink a lot, and unfortunately they’re still driving drunk a lot of the time – it’s commonplace, habitual and acceptable. The benefits of driving after drinking [freedom of mobility, a good time with mates, sticking to local social norms, getting home] outweigh any risks they may see.
Our approach
These guys live for getting out with their mates and doing the things they love - rugby, hunting, motocross, surfing, diving. It’s physical. They’re tough blokes and while they might not care about the physical pain of an injury, they would care if it impacted on their ability to do the things they love.
This campaign aims to get these young guys to realise that crashes do happen if they’ve been drinking, and an injury will sideline them from what they love doing with their mates. It deliberately doesn’t focus on the big, unbelievable consequences of death and serious injury, but more the smaller injuries that will take them out of action and mess with their fun.
To reset the way they think about drink-driving, we want them to acknowledge the reality that an injury would affect their quality of life quite a bit. They may not have had a mishap themselves while driving home after a drinking session, but they will certainly know someone who has, and we want them to consider the fact that this could be them.
Ultimately we want these young guys to stop getting behind the wheel drunk, where they can harm themselves and others.
The campaign launched on 21 June 2017.