Spotlight on sloshed drivers

Johannesburg - With pressure growing to restrict liquor advertising, SA Breweries has launched one of its most important campaigns against drink-driving, with R50m of media exposure behind it during the current financial year.

The agency behind it is Black River FC, which will shortly be joined by a new creative director, Jonathan Deeb, from The Jupiter Drawing Room.

Among other tasks, he will head the creative team on the SAB account, thus solving a little problem: Black River founder and creative head Ahmed Tilly is Muslim, and won't work on a liquor account.

Deeb, one of the country's top art directors, says he will still work as a hands-on creative. "Black River is a great opportunity for me, but I wouldn't want to stop getting my hands dirty," he says.

SAB is a regular campaigner against drinking and driving every Christmas, but this year it's bigger than usual and adopts a notably different approach.

The campaign avoids what strategy director Harald Harvey calls the "exploding pumpkin" shock tactic, instead warning in a sparse matter-of-fact style of the serious dangers of drunken driving - like getting a criminal record, which could mean the end of overseas travel and limits to career prospects. And it makes clear there are transport alternatives available.

The ad campaign, is part of a broader public awareness initiative to educate the retail trade and shebeen owners, and to combat the disproportionately high rates of foetal alcohol syndrome - the world's highest in parts of the Northern and Western Cape.

Shebeen owners will be informed of their responsibility to discourage drunk driving, and their right to refuse service.

Its basic standpoint is that getting caught is inevitable when you drive while over the limit. The campaign will be complemented by other on-the-ground activities with selected strategic partners, including local law enforcement and a dedicated non-governmental organisation.

Examples of billboards, which have no visual element: "Mints don't fool a breathalyzer" and "I'm fine to drive". Both are followed by the warning: "Drink and drive and you will get caught."

Media exposure was maximised through the cooperation of the media. "The media came to the party in a big way," says Harvey. "We spent about R12m and got R50m." The campaign is in radio, print and outdoor only.

- Fin24.com