Wednesday 10 December 2014

Campaign Review - ‘Mistakes’ by the New Zealand Transport Agency


Recently I have been applying for graduate placements as a graduate scheme is what I really want to be involved in once I leave Falmouth University. 

Each graduate scheme asks for different things, this is a campaign review that I had to write for the idm summer school application. I came across this campaign fairly recently during a strategy team meeting on my course as it related to a peer's project she was working on. 

‘Mistakes’ Anti speeding campaign by the New Zealand Transport Agency




Earlier, this year this advert was part of New Zealand’s Transport Agency’s ongoing campaign to clamp down on excessive and unnecessary speeding, which carries the compelling message ‘No one should pay for a mistake with their life’. It’s executed perfectly and has personally struck a cord as well as inspired me.

It features a time-freeze scenario after a car is seen pulling out from a junction without looking properly whilst another car is seen speeding down the road.The accident doesn’t follow immediately as both drivers involved get out of the their cars and walk towards each other as they interact through a ‘relaxed’ conversation. It is evident that they now both face serious danger but the advert doesn’t focus upon that, it focuses on the emotions each driver has.

Compared to previous campaigns by other governing bodies, be it about drink driving or safety in the car in general, this is one with the absence of disturbing imagery. Previous adverts I feel have always followed a certain pattern which are ‘blunt’, brutal and use direct footage of an actor being hit by a car along with an impersonal voiceover – yes these have worked and are still powerful but this advert by Clemenger BBDO really turns the issue of speeding on its head.The 60-second advert focuses time into depicting the ‘storytelling’ aspect of the scenario, which is unlike what previous adverts have done as the audience sees a different side of a road traffic accident. Both drivers talk to each other, in a controlled manner and the direction of the advert really focuses in on this relationship which I find very poignant; it allows the audience to really step into the individuals lives and realise the pain on their realisation of their own actions, their ‘mistakes’.

There is a sense of silence, which in turn dramatises the conversation, as it is certain that both drivers wish they could turn back the clock. It’s the pleading, which is so heartfelt from the Dad as he mutters the words ‘Please, I’ve got my boy in the back’.The boy is seen looking straight on, it’s like he is just waiting for the accident to occur in the final frames, this is particularly chilling.The fact that both drivers are at fault, and not one is more at fault than the other is strong; it highlights how catastrophic actions can be.

This campaign by Clemenger BBDO emphasises how the actions we commit not only have an effect on ourselves but others, those involved immediately and those families to which the people belong. Ultimately, we share the road with other drivers – so we should think before we share the consequences and our ‘mistakes’ with them, which costs lives.This advert emphasises my ongoing quest to always to sit back, find bold insights and look at things from another angle. From a long history of driving campaigns, this definitely has reinvented the meaning of safety awareness, which questions the audience and prompts conversation. 

The requirement of this essay was that it had to be under 500 words - mine is 499 words.