"You know I can't grab your ghost chip!"
October 27, 2011 7:51 AM Subscribe
That PSA was pretty good at showing why one shouldn't drink drive, without coming off as lecturing the viewer.
posted by Harpocrates at 8:00 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by Harpocrates at 8:00 AM on October 27, 2011
That accent is absolutely transfixing; I love it.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:02 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:02 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
"iiiiiIII've been internalizing a really complicated situation in my head"
10 stars. 300 stars.
posted by SharkParty at 8:08 AM on October 27, 2011 [16 favorites]
10 stars. 300 stars.
posted by SharkParty at 8:08 AM on October 27, 2011 [16 favorites]
This psa is a puppy whose belly I want to rub. Leeegend.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 8:10 AM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by villanelles at dawn at 8:10 AM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
And the honor of re-colonizing the surface world after the End Of Days goes to .....New Zealand!
posted by The Whelk at 8:10 AM on October 27, 2011 [9 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 8:10 AM on October 27, 2011 [9 favorites]
Great ad, though he was helped a bit by his mate being not quite such a massive idiot after all.
posted by Abiezer at 8:11 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Abiezer at 8:11 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Spoon!
posted by wowbobwow at 8:18 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by wowbobwow at 8:18 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
The thing that got me the second time I watched it (the first time was just being mesmerized with the accents) was the tiny suggestion, "Hey, if you tell your friends not to drink and drive you'll be backed up by a small voice from somewhere off-camera showing you that not only do you think it's a bad idea but so do your peers." Far more subtle than it could have been.
posted by komara at 8:22 AM on October 27, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by komara at 8:22 AM on October 27, 2011 [6 favorites]
I'm going to use "bloody legend!" as my cry of approval now.
posted by orrnyereg at 8:24 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by orrnyereg at 8:24 AM on October 27, 2011
Do they call it Drinky Drivey? Everything seems to end in "ey" down there.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 8:24 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 8:24 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Is it just me or did an unrepresentatively high fraction of blokes in that ad look like non-Europeans? I went and checked in case I didn't know what I was talking about, but did NOT look like 67.6% of actors in there were "ethnically ... European".
Not to take away from the great script, but the visuals were a bit jarring for me.
posted by shazzam at 8:34 AM on October 27, 2011
Not to take away from the great script, but the visuals were a bit jarring for me.
posted by shazzam at 8:34 AM on October 27, 2011
I thought this was going to be one of those preachy ones like we see in the USA where the cops will ARREST THE HELL out of you if you even try driving drunk, or like the nasty bloody one from the UK where the girls all die texting in their car, but it was actually pretty good.
posted by smoothvirus at 8:36 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by smoothvirus at 8:36 AM on October 27, 2011
Is it just me or did an unrepresentatively high fraction of blokes in that ad look like non-Europeans?
Everyone in the PSA is Maori (or of other Polynesian ancestry), I think there are a number of ads like this that are targeted to different groups.
posted by atrazine at 8:39 AM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
Everyone in the PSA is Maori (or of other Polynesian ancestry), I think there are a number of ads like this that are targeted to different groups.
posted by atrazine at 8:39 AM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
Everyone in the PSA is Maori (or of other Polynesian ancestry), I think there are a number of ads like this that are targeted to different groups.
Ok, so this is not a TV ad? Coz I don't see how you can have a TV ad targeted to different groups. Isn't this ad just telling white teenagers that drunk driving is a Maori issue?
posted by shazzam at 8:43 AM on October 27, 2011
Ok, so this is not a TV ad? Coz I don't see how you can have a TV ad targeted to different groups. Isn't this ad just telling white teenagers that drunk driving is a Maori issue?
posted by shazzam at 8:43 AM on October 27, 2011
but did NOT look like 67.6% of actors in there were "ethnically ... European".
That's right, you just watched an ad that wasn't created according to a standard marketing algorithm, optimized for maximum return on investment according to multiple focus group studies. Instead, it showed people that might actually exist, in locations that might actually exist.
I can see how it might be jarring.
I don't see how you can have a TV ad targeted to different groups.
You have multiple ads, depicting multiple groups. Viewers will relate to the one most like themselves.
posted by CaseyB at 8:46 AM on October 27, 2011 [18 favorites]
That's right, you just watched an ad that wasn't created according to a standard marketing algorithm, optimized for maximum return on investment according to multiple focus group studies. Instead, it showed people that might actually exist, in locations that might actually exist.
I can see how it might be jarring.
I don't see how you can have a TV ad targeted to different groups.
You have multiple ads, depicting multiple groups. Viewers will relate to the one most like themselves.
posted by CaseyB at 8:46 AM on October 27, 2011 [18 favorites]
Oh I was wondering who the coolest kids in the world were right now. I hadn't been paying attention since Barcelona lost out to Prague in like 2005 or whatever. I guess it's New Zealand.
Congratulations New Zealand! No, don't look behind you, that's just Hong Kong. Keep running.
posted by penduluum at 8:47 AM on October 27, 2011
Congratulations New Zealand! No, don't look behind you, that's just Hong Kong. Keep running.
posted by penduluum at 8:47 AM on October 27, 2011
Viewers will relate to the one most like themselves.
Yes, and I understand the intended consequences of the ad. However, I would also like to posit that based on my understanding of human psychology:
Viewers will dissociate from the one most unlike themselves.
Putting on an ad that only shows Maori youths as being likely to drunk drive sends the message that everyone else is A-ok. But I don't watch NZ PSA's on a regular basis, so I agree that I might be completely wrong.
posted by shazzam at 8:54 AM on October 27, 2011
Yes, and I understand the intended consequences of the ad. However, I would also like to posit that based on my understanding of human psychology:
Viewers will dissociate from the one most unlike themselves.
Putting on an ad that only shows Maori youths as being likely to drunk drive sends the message that everyone else is A-ok. But I don't watch NZ PSA's on a regular basis, so I agree that I might be completely wrong.
posted by shazzam at 8:54 AM on October 27, 2011
Shazzam - I think you might be underestimating people's ability to relate to people from different ethnic groups to their own.
posted by Ted Maul at 8:57 AM on October 27, 2011 [7 favorites]
posted by Ted Maul at 8:57 AM on October 27, 2011 [7 favorites]
The kind of people who will drive drunk because the actors in the drunk driving psa were a different race are the kind of people who are going to drive drunk no matter what kind of psa they see.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 8:59 AM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by villanelles at dawn at 8:59 AM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
Viewers will dissociate from the one most unlike themselves
Calm down. The white guys in NZ do drugs in front of Maori policemen and they actually get in the car and drive drunk too.
posted by rh at 9:00 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
Calm down. The white guys in NZ do drugs in front of Maori policemen and they actually get in the car and drive drunk too.
posted by rh at 9:00 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
One more with a white guy. I think we've hit the 67.6% quota. Phew.
posted by rh at 9:07 AM on October 27, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by rh at 9:07 AM on October 27, 2011 [4 favorites]
Wait, wait, wait. You mean other cultures have different ways of dealing with racial issues?!
posted by elwoodwiles at 9:27 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by elwoodwiles at 9:27 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Coz I don't see how you can have a TV ad targeted to different groups.
Do you not watch much TV? Because it's full of ads that play during a football (American or rest of the world kind) game that are different from the kind that play during a soap opera that are different from the kind that play during sitcoms like Friends. This is what advertisers do - figure out who is watching what kind of TV when and target the ads to that population.
A friend of mine who is white and in her 50s just bought a Fiat 500, and was enormously amused by the JLO ad for the car. She is certainly not the target audience for this campaign! But she loves the car.
posted by rtha at 9:35 AM on October 27, 2011
Do you not watch much TV? Because it's full of ads that play during a football (American or rest of the world kind) game that are different from the kind that play during a soap opera that are different from the kind that play during sitcoms like Friends. This is what advertisers do - figure out who is watching what kind of TV when and target the ads to that population.
A friend of mine who is white and in her 50s just bought a Fiat 500, and was enormously amused by the JLO ad for the car. She is certainly not the target audience for this campaign! But she loves the car.
posted by rtha at 9:35 AM on October 27, 2011
Bloody Kiwis. Never a bore.
posted by Mental Wimp at 9:38 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by Mental Wimp at 9:38 AM on October 27, 2011
Calm down. The white guys in NZ do drugs in front of Maori policemen and they actually get in the car and drive drunk too.
Yes, I was wrong and have learned something about Kiwi culture, thanks rh. But "Calm down" for a comment where I already said "...I might be completely wrong"? All those MeTa comments from long time MeFites about why they don't contribute anymore suddenly make a lot more sense as well.
posted by shazzam at 9:54 AM on October 27, 2011
Yes, I was wrong and have learned something about Kiwi culture, thanks rh. But "Calm down" for a comment where I already said "...I might be completely wrong"? All those MeTa comments from long time MeFites about why they don't contribute anymore suddenly make a lot more sense as well.
posted by shazzam at 9:54 AM on October 27, 2011
Hey. Monique says you're dumb.
posted by hypersloth at 9:55 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by hypersloth at 9:55 AM on October 27, 2011
The white guys in NZ do drugs in front of Maori policemen and they actually get in the car and drive drunk too.
Notice how the Kiwi cop is all "can you please stand back sir?".
This is how police should act. Not taze you and beat the shit out of you.
posted by Talez at 9:56 AM on October 27, 2011
Notice how the Kiwi cop is all "can you please stand back sir?".
This is how police should act. Not taze you and beat the shit out of you.
posted by Talez at 9:56 AM on October 27, 2011
This was pretty good. I'm also a big fan of embrace life.
posted by Stark at 9:57 AM on October 27, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by Stark at 9:57 AM on October 27, 2011 [6 favorites]
"I might be completely wrong" is usually a 0.1% hedge when you're 99.9% sure you're right.
posted by Yowser at 9:58 AM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Yowser at 9:58 AM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
I'll never forget seeing this ad when I was in Ireland. Holy crap.
posted by HumanComplex at 10:10 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by HumanComplex at 10:10 AM on October 27, 2011
"I might be completely wrong" is usually a 0.1% hedge when you're 99.9% sure you're right.
How on earth do you know my mother, yowser?
posted by Jody Tresidder at 10:14 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
How on earth do you know my mother, yowser?
posted by Jody Tresidder at 10:14 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
This is how police should act. Not taze you and beat the shit out of you.
Always blow on the pie.
posted by CaseyB at 10:25 AM on October 27, 2011 [8 favorites]
Always blow on the pie.
posted by CaseyB at 10:25 AM on October 27, 2011 [8 favorites]
Here's an NZ drunk driving PSA that ran a couple of years ago. Obviously targeted towards another demographic of kiwis, and not quite as comical.
posted by exquisite_deluxe at 10:27 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by exquisite_deluxe at 10:27 AM on October 27, 2011
Always blow on the pie.
I want to see more of this guy.
posted by alby at 10:28 AM on October 27, 2011 [4 favorites]
I want to see more of this guy.
posted by alby at 10:28 AM on October 27, 2011 [4 favorites]
This is terrific -- thanks for posting. I also love the Enjoy the Ride PSA from the Office of Road Safety of Western Australia. We may do fewer things, but we do, we do well. After watching that, I actually slowed my driving down. I knew I was reacting to the PSA, and I was totally OK with that. I think these PSAs work because, as someone above mentioned, they're subtle. They don't scream the message at you, and present the idea in a realistic context anyone can relate to.
BTW, I'm a caucasian American woman, and I had no trouble at all relating to the Maori situation/context. At all. They were people, and while it was obvious that the ad was produced in a particular region, I thought it succeeded in being about the situation and the individuals, not about their ethnicity.
posted by flyingsquirrel at 10:28 AM on October 27, 2011 [5 favorites]
BTW, I'm a caucasian American woman, and I had no trouble at all relating to the Maori situation/context. At all. They were people, and while it was obvious that the ad was produced in a particular region, I thought it succeeded in being about the situation and the individuals, not about their ethnicity.
posted by flyingsquirrel at 10:28 AM on October 27, 2011 [5 favorites]
Oh and Stark -- Thanks for the Embrace Life link. Totally sharing the hell out of that today.
posted by flyingsquirrel at 10:34 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by flyingsquirrel at 10:34 AM on October 27, 2011
Okay,
That Irish one was horrible. Yipes, I'm still all goose-pimples.
The kiwis amused me no end.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:48 AM on October 27, 2011
That Irish one was horrible. Yipes, I'm still all goose-pimples.
The kiwis amused me no end.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:48 AM on October 27, 2011
I'd like to see some research on the effectivenes of different approaches to anti-drink-driving campaigns: e.g. are social norm-based approaches more effective than the shock-and-awe approach?
posted by alby at 1:11 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by alby at 1:11 PM on October 27, 2011
It's worth noting the history of NZ road safety advertising:
Back in the 1990s it was very shock-based: there would be ads with a happy family driving along, dad turns around to say something to kids, there's a thud as he hits something, and then a bloodied body lands on his windscreen. There were ads that were just people crying and screaming in hospitals. Another one with a guy being shunned by everyone in the pub because he'd killed some of their mates while driving drunk.
Then there was a set of ads mostly targeted at men: "if you drink then drive, you're a bloody idiot". That slogan was quickly parodied: "....but if you make it home, you're a bloody legend". I guess the advertisers picked up on that, because they then started using "if you stop your mate from driving drunk, you're a legend". There's been at least one long-running variant of this ad that used young rural white guys as the subjects/target audience (tried to find it online, but no luck).
I'd also be interested in seeing research on the effectiveness of these different approaches.
posted by Infinite Jest at 1:38 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Back in the 1990s it was very shock-based: there would be ads with a happy family driving along, dad turns around to say something to kids, there's a thud as he hits something, and then a bloodied body lands on his windscreen. There were ads that were just people crying and screaming in hospitals. Another one with a guy being shunned by everyone in the pub because he'd killed some of their mates while driving drunk.
Then there was a set of ads mostly targeted at men: "if you drink then drive, you're a bloody idiot". That slogan was quickly parodied: "....but if you make it home, you're a bloody legend". I guess the advertisers picked up on that, because they then started using "if you stop your mate from driving drunk, you're a legend". There's been at least one long-running variant of this ad that used young rural white guys as the subjects/target audience (tried to find it online, but no luck).
I'd also be interested in seeing research on the effectiveness of these different approaches.
posted by Infinite Jest at 1:38 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
The ghost chips are a bit far. Surely he could have persuaded his mate by telling him drinking too much would cause him to lose mantrol.
posted by Metro Gnome at 1:55 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by Metro Gnome at 1:55 PM on October 27, 2011
I love how the Kiwi's do such a great job of making adverts that get the idea across without resorting to moralising, shock tactics or treating the viewer like an idiot.
The majority of drinking and driving ads do. Alcohol and driving ads here really annoy me because they usually do these very things.
This one that's still running blatantly resorts to shock tactics.
Same goes for this one, which is also still running. "If you drink and drive, you're a bloody idiot."
Or how about these recent ones that are apparently trying to make driving under control appear macho.
This one shows a drunk uncle throwing his nephew into a wardrobe.
This one is a clear example of moralising.
I'm not saying that the commercials aren't worthwhile, as drinking and drunk driving are a legitimate problem in this country. I haven't seen numbers on how effective the ads are, and there are certainly some good ones like the recent series that all show a conversation between two guys, one of whom is telling the other "you've got to sort your drinking out." But in general, the ads are almost textbook "moralising, shock tactics, and treating the viewer like an idiot."
posted by hootenatty at 2:37 PM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
The majority of drinking and driving ads do. Alcohol and driving ads here really annoy me because they usually do these very things.
This one that's still running blatantly resorts to shock tactics.
Same goes for this one, which is also still running. "If you drink and drive, you're a bloody idiot."
Or how about these recent ones that are apparently trying to make driving under control appear macho.
This one shows a drunk uncle throwing his nephew into a wardrobe.
This one is a clear example of moralising.
I'm not saying that the commercials aren't worthwhile, as drinking and drunk driving are a legitimate problem in this country. I haven't seen numbers on how effective the ads are, and there are certainly some good ones like the recent series that all show a conversation between two guys, one of whom is telling the other "you've got to sort your drinking out." But in general, the ads are almost textbook "moralising, shock tactics, and treating the viewer like an idiot."
posted by hootenatty at 2:37 PM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
This multiple award winning anti-speeding campaign from NSW, Australia, also managed to get the message across without resorting to shock tactics, and with a bit of humour. (I think there's a video there you can watch; it seems to be blocked at work)
posted by UbuRoivas at 3:36 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by UbuRoivas at 3:36 PM on October 27, 2011
That Irish one has stopped people from living near roads.
posted by philip-random at 12:16 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by philip-random at 12:16 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
I forgot about "always blow on the pie"! That was like my favourite thing for a whole week.
posted by tumid dahlia at 2:46 AM on October 28, 2011
posted by tumid dahlia at 2:46 AM on October 28, 2011
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Compare and contrast to this subtle bit of UK anti-drink driving campaigning which just makes me glad I no longer have a TV...
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 7:59 AM on October 27, 2011 [5 favorites]