LEGEND
The brief was to stop Kiwis from drink-driving. The expected approach was insulting them. Calling them “Bloody idiots”. Graphic, high-budget car crashes - the kind of "shock and awe" tactics that the target audience had spent years learning to tune out. We said no. Instead of showing another wreck, we focused on the social friction of the kitchen and the passenger seat. From the "Ghost Chips" film to the "Radio Legends" series, we turned drink driving advertising on its head. The best behaviour change campaigns don't feel like a lecture from the government—they feel like something shared with a mate that happens to save a life. By turning "bloody idiots" into "bloody legends" across every channel, we didn't just make an ad; we changed the national vocabulary.
Ghost Chips — NZTA Young Māori men weren't ignoring drink driving ads because they didn't understand the risk. They were ignoring them because the messaging never reflected their reality. Shock tactics and sirens were irrelevant to an audience that valued mateship above everything — including authority.
So we flipped the problem. Don't target the driver. Target the mate. Make speaking up feel legendary instead of awkward. The answer wasn't a safety campaign — it was a cultural artifact that happened to save lives. A bunch of mates at a party. No blood. No sirens. Just "ghost chips, bro."
1 million YouTube views in two weeks — unprecedented in New Zealand at the time. 90% prompted recognition across the entire country. 75% of the target audience said it made them more likely to stop a friend drink driving. 50% drop in teen drink driving over the following five years. #1 most searched term in New Zealand on Google the week it launched. Phrases entered the national vernacular and are still used today. Referenced in a Pixar film. You can still buy the merch.
Awards: D&AD Yellow Pencil · Gold Effie — The Hardest Challenge · Grand Effie — Sustained Success · NZ Effie Campaign of the Year · Featured in NZ On Screen · Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand · Wikipedia · Effies
RADIO LEGENDS
Another drink-driving brief. Another opportunity to lecture people from a government podium. We said no. Instead we built a platform that let family members call a free number and record messages to their drink-driving loved ones — real voices, real fear, real love — broadcast on radio at the times and locations the caller chose. No actors. No scripts. Part of the Legend campaign that won three gold Effies including best strategic thinking, 97% prompted recall, and contributed to a 50% drop in teen drink-driving. The most powerful road safety message wasn't ours. It was a mum's.
