LEGEND
The brief was to stop Kiwis from drink-driving. The expected approach was a graphic, high-budget car crash—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.
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.
results
And also:
Millions of dollars in earned PR with zero paid digital media
Hundreds of user-generated memes and remixes
Merchandise still selling over a decade later
Became NZ's biggest meme of 2011
Entered the permanent cultural lexicon of New Zealand