For generations, drink driving has been normalised in many Kiwi families. Grandparents, uncles, mums and cuzzies have all been guilty of having a few drinks and then hopping into their cars to drive home. This behaviour was particularly entrenched among older generations who grew up in an era when drinking and driving wasn't socially stigmatised or strictly policed. Despite years of government campaigns and police enforcement, a significant portion of the population continued to ignore conventional drink driving messages. These individuals were resistant to authority figures telling them what to do, creating a barrier to behaviour change that traditional approaches couldn't penetrate.

The Insight

While many drink drivers would dismiss messages from the government or police, there was one voice they couldn't easily ignore: their own whānau. The emotional impact of hearing a child's fear, a partner's worry, or a parent's concern created a power dynamic that authority figures could never replicate.

These voices carried unique authority for several reasons:

• Emotional connection: Unlike impersonal safety statistics, family pleas triggered genuine emotional responses

• Specificity: Messages addressed drivers by name and referenced specific behaviours they recognized in themselves

• Consequence reality: Family members spoke about real consequences that mattered deeply—not just legal penalties, but the prospect of losing relationships and causing emotional pain

• Authenticity: The raw, unpolished nature of these messages conveyed a sincerity that professional advertising could never match

• Cultural relevance: In Māori and Pacific cultures particularly, family responsibility carries profound weight that governmental messaging often fails to leverage

The Campaign Thinking

Rather than continuing with the standard authoritative approach, we created a platform that enabled direct communication between family members and drink drivers. We recognised that the most powerful message wouldn't come from us, but from the authentic emotional pleas of real people talking directly to their loved ones.

The campaign's power lay in transforming private fears into public messages that couldn't be avoided:

• Disrupting expectations: Listeners expecting commercial messages instead heard the voice of a frightened child

• Breaking silence: Giving voice to what many family members wanted to say but couldn't find the courage to express face-to-face

• Creating unavoidable moments: Delivering these messages when drink drivers were likely to be alone in their cars—a captive audience without the ability to change the subject

• Leveraging social pressure: The public nature of these private messages created a powerful social dynamic where drivers knew others were hearing about their behaviour

We launched a radio campaign that invited people to call a toll-free number and leave a message for their drink-driving family members. These raw, unscripted messages were then broadcast on radio stations at specific times and locations chosen by the callers—when they believed their loved one would be most likely to hear it.

Strategic Elements

• Authentic Voices: Using real people's messages rather than actors or government officials

• Strategic Placement: Broadcasting messages at times when target audiences would be most receptive

• Emotional Connection: Leveraging family bonds to create meaningful behavioural change

• Democratised Messaging: Giving everyday Kiwis the power to contribute to road safety

• Cultural Relevance: Acknowledging the complex family dynamics around drinking culture in New Zealand

The Execution

The campaign leveraged radio as the perfect medium—intimate, pervasive, and often listened to while driving. The toll-free line was promoted through radio announcements, encouraging people to share their concerns.

When the floodgates opened, we were inundated with hundreds of heartfelt, sometimes confronting messages. Children pleading with parents, wives speaking to husbands, friends addressing mates—each message revealing the genuine fear and concern behind the statistics.

These unfiltered testimonials were edited only for broadcast suitability and then placed on air. The orange visual treatment featuring silhouettes preserved anonymity while enhancing the emotional weight of the words.

One particularly powerful message came from a child: "Dad, you're scaring me and Mum. When you pick up those keys drunk, I don't know whether I'm going to see you again."

Results

The campaign resonated deeply with New Zealanders, creating conversations in homes and workplaces across the country. The authentic nature of the messages cut through the typical advertising clutter, forcing listeners to confront the real consequences of their actions.

Most significantly, this initiative contributed to the New Zealand road toll for 2012 being the second lowest in 60 years—a remarkable achievement that demonstrated the power of finding the right voice for the right message.

What This Teaches Us

The most effective behaviour change doesn't come from telling people what to do—it comes from hearing uncomfortable truths from those whose opinions matter most. By creating a platform for family members to speak directly to drink drivers, this campaign bypassed the typical resistance to authority figures and accessed a more fundamental human motivation: the desire to protect and maintain our closest relationships.

The family voice worked where other voices failed because:

• It couldn't be dismissed as government interference: These weren't faceless bureaucrats or police officers—they were loved ones with undeniable standing in the drink driver's life

• It made abstract consequences personal: Statistics about road deaths became real when framed as "I'm afraid I'll never see you again"

• It created immediate cognitive dissonance: Drivers had to reconcile their self-image as good parents/partners with the reality of the fear they were causing

• It evoked protection instincts: Messages from children particularly triggered protective instincts that outweighed the desire to drink and drive

When we give people the platform to speak difficult truths to those they love, we tap into relationship dynamics more powerful than any advertising campaign could create on its own. The success of this initiative proves that finding your voice sometimes means stepping back and amplifying the voices that already have the power to create change.

Leeegend!