Boozy tales intertwine for NZ Transport Agency's drink driving campaign

Despite the fact that drinking and driving can result is serious accidents or even death, most people have only one fear when stepping into a car after a bit of booze - will they get caught?

Taking this truism as a basis, Clemenger BBDO Wellington's smart new spot for the NZ Transport Agency's anti-drink driving message sees eight different lads (statistica pointing out that 85% of drink drivers involved in serious or fatal crashes are male) regale tales of their nights on the lash.

Masterfully stitched together, the film's hero spot, Totally Compos Mentis, manages to intertwin the stories with such gleeful fluidity that the essential point - that different guys, on different nights, in different parts of the country are all ending their night the same way - breaks through perfectly.

“This is only the first iteration of the campaign,” explains Brigid Alkema, Executive Creative Director at Clemenger BBDO. “On this one we traded a Word doc for a spreadsheet to craft eight scripts packed full of interchangeable moments. The films are designed to be infinitely reshuffled, reordered and reworked to keep the message compelling, and the consequences uncomfortable.”

3&7 director Steve Ayson adds, “I loved building eight characters, and eight scenes; there was a freedom in letting loose with dialogue with the goal of being able to chop them up different ways. I wanted the viewer to feel the characters progression of drunkenness, so the getting stopped crept in quick… like the feeling when you turn a corner and there’s a check point.”