303 BEHIND NATIONAL BINGE DRINKING PUSH
The national launch of the Binge drinking campaign took place this weekend with Nicola Roxon, Minister for Health launching the $20m plus campaign, “Don’t turn a night out into a nightmare.” The campaign created by 303 hit national TV screens last night and will be highly visible in press, outdoor, youth magazines and on line. The campaign that is designed to shock young drinkers, highlights the potential dangers of binge drinking and the serious long term consequences that can result.
The campaign highlights the fact that four people aged under 25 die after alcohol-related incidents in an average week, while 70 are hospitalised. It launches as schoolies week celebrations got underway in party spots on the Gold Coast, at Lorne in Victoria and Byron Bay.
“Young people think they are bulletproof. Well, they have to understand they’re not bulletproof,” the Health Minister said.
The campaign is part of the $53 million initiative outlined by Kevin Rudd in March this year. Creative team was Bryan Dennis and Julian Watt with direction from Steve Rogers at Revolver.
It’s been a busy time for the agency with Federal Government projects. 303 recently launched the national Better Health campaign that is designed to combat obesity. The “How do you measure up?” campaign is spear headed by a national TV campaign which features an aging and increasingly heavy man walking along a tape measure. The campaign prompts people to review their own behaviour and provides positive steps that can be taken to better health.
24 Comments
when will we see the work
That’s a great brief and a brilliant opportunity. Chances like these don’t come around that often here in perth, I can’t wait to see what they have done with it.
I’ve seen the work, and while the facts and figures are kind of powerful, the vision just shows the problem.
There is no insight, no reason for the target to reflect on themselves, and no chance of this campaign having any effect…
the vision makes the problem look awesome
i wanna be young again…
Made where?
5.05 am Gosh, you’re up early, which hopefully means you are lying down because i think you need to prepare yourself for disappointment.
http://www.drinkingnightmare.gov.au/internet/DrinkingNightmare/publishing.nsf
Its good that 303 didnt need to venture far to find some good insights into the minds of binge drinkers.
A leisurely walk around the office would probably yield plenty of qualified respondents.
Yes.. I went there.
Try the veal.
I thought comments on ads sent in by the agency were meant to be attributed. Or did we breakaway from the rules?
“Kelly”
This story is from a general press release sent out to all media around Australia… not a specific release to CB. Besides, going on the credits for this campaign (which we only sourced today) it seems to be more of a 303 Sydney project than from the Perth office.
The comments so far have hardly been vicious and only one that was a bit over the top has not been published.
Anyway, previously when we have barred comments on campaigns the creatives at both 303 and Marketforce have contacted us to allow them through.
Lighten up CB:)
pretty disappointed by this to be honest, such a wicked brief and the potential to do something great but whats the insight? get pissed and u might walk in front of a car? think this would have zero impact on the target and expected better.
Oh come on CB. You can’t tease us with “only one that was a bit of the top has not been published”. We come on here to read the very best in anonymous passive-aggressive scarcity-mentality back-biting. If we thought for one minute that you were holding back on that sea of bile…
Yep, no fault of the creatives involved (I can imagine the research and testing layers this poor campaign went through), but this isn’t helping the binge drinking problem in the slightest. Unfortunately, even the “other” government target market, my mum, thought it was boring and missed the point entirely.
$20m+? Build a bloody clinic or something useful, not this wallpaper.
And don’t rip off one of my all-time favourite video clips while you’re at it: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k58YQjotpQxhaOLora
OMFG!!!!!! It’s a girl a girl at the end!!!!!!! ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!:-)
Thanks Ol’ Grumpy for pointing out the equally-obvious.
Come on. That video is totally fair game for this brief. Maybe it’s a first thought to go to the first person shot but I bet it helped them win a national pitch.
What happend at the end? Did the kid drop his handycam?
I think ‘Sally’ on the CB Australia blog hit it on the head with this comment:
“Shock campaigns aimed at youth don’t work. They just don’t. But politicians like to make stuff so they can point to it and say “see – we’re doing something!! Look!!”
But any agency who entered into the pitch and was foolish enough to tell them the truth wouldn’t have gotten past stage one.
So these campaigns continue to get made.”
So very well done 303 for picking up the job, getting it through huge layers of research justification and doing a pretty good job with it. I’d rather the guys at 303 get it than some big multi-national in Sydney.
I saw an article in The Australian last weekend about a new ‘cutting edge’ binge drinking campaign.
Wonder when that one will come out.
The problem with these strategies/ads is that they are totally one-sided. Everyone knows that going out and getting pissed often results in a great night. Most of the best nights I’ve ever had have been on the piss, I think. I can’t actually remember.
Scare tactics and the like just don’t wash. It’s like warning people not to fly planes because there is a risk. Sure, people die horribly in plane crashes but most people travel to otherwise inaccessible places and have a fantastic time.
Stop telling people what to think. Stop skewing the risks wildly to the negative. Relax. Most of the time in life, things work out OK. Get out there. Have fun. Experience everything. Live life. Have no fear.
Based on the media’s portrayal of the world, right now if you fly Qantas to Indonesia, have a few beers, swim at an beach that isn’t patrolled and have then have unprotected sex after eating a chocolate bar, you have a 98 per cent chance of dying.
It’s bullshit. It’s all just people with their own set of values and agendas (built on fucken fear and regret) trying to control how you live your life.
Besides, what the fuck is binge drinking? Isn’t it just getting pissed? It’s rubbish. Whenever you want to get people worried about something, give it a new, catchy name.
How embarrassing that this wowserish crap found an ad agency to spruik it. I thought we were a rebellious,coke-snorting, go fuck yourself, industry. How sad.
Thank you for your time. I feel much better. Now, where’s my fucken beer.
^
fuckin A.
Let the kids have some god damn fun.
They’ll probably grow up(?) to work in the ad industry anyway…
‘Rebellion’ went out the door when the government money started flowing in.
Advertising spruiks anything that can pay – from “Supercharge your Car” to “Stop Hoons”, from “Visit Melbourne Lane-way Galleries” to “Dob in Graffiti”.
Sometimes the government pays for both sides of the argument, sometimes just the wowser side!
Don’t Smoke. Don’t Drink. Don’t Walk. Don’t Write on Walls. Don’t Litter. Don’t Swear in Public. Don’t Fight. Don’t Speed. Don’t Listen. Don’t Care.
Dono2000
p.s. I think he did drop his handy cam, otherwise we would see white light and Saint Peter.
I expect a lot better from 303. Shocking, yes. Client led, yes. Poor chaps.
My thing is – and 303 I’m not dissing your effort – anything that comes from the government is instantly discounted as bullshit. So the more ‘this is your brain. this is your brain on drugs’ 60s style fried egg the approach is, the more people will get their backs up and it might have a converse effect.
The government lies to us on a daily basis. Anything with their logo on the end doesn’t work.
If it was an honest, frank approach I think it would work better. One I really like was saatchi’s anti drink drive campaign ‘most nights you won’t get caught. but you could end up in an accident’ resonates far more to me, someone who’s lost 6 friends through separate drink / drug driving related instances in a small community.
kid’s aren’t dipshits with buttons you can push. they need to be given more credit than that. ok you’re going to drink. fine. but check out this guy that started drinking at 15 and now finds it hard to get work. etc.
as much as i hate it, testimonials would have worked better.
-END RANT-
I understand many people feel the whole idea of a binge drinking campaign is wowserish in principle, but firstly, we are in the advertising industry hence and are fond of the odd binge drinking session – don’t take it personally.
Secondly many of you commenting are unlikely to be in the young target market. Whilst I respect and agree that an abstinence approach is futile, I don’t think this is what the ads are trying to say. For me who’s in the target market, it struck a chord about how every night starts.. good fun. Its not asking you not to have fun, its saying ‘its not fun to get so smashed you do things you regret, and hurt yourself and others’
Thirdly you cant blame the government for trying. We don’t work in hospitals and see the reality of young people being brought in every Sunday of the year shattered, abused and psychologically traumatised as a result of the events associated with excessive consumption of alcohol.
If it makes people question if they’re overdoing it, then I think its a job well done.