NZTA targets stoner drivers in new ‘Thoughts’ content series via Clemenger BBDO, Wellington
Clemenger BBDO, Wellington has announced the launch of Thoughts – a ‘flexible content’ series for the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) aimed at stoner drivers.
The visual story follows two young guys driving home after a ‘session’ in the afternoon. The driver is stoned; he’s compensating and trying really hard to remain focused on the road but his mind wanders and chaos unfolds. In Thoughts – released last Sunday – none of the characters talk.
Brigid Alkema, executive creative director, Clemenger BBDO: “Thoughts is a blank canvas; a flexible piece of content, purposely designed for people to now play with. We’ve invited comedians to write and voice what’s going on in their wandering minds to animate the series. Every time you see it, you’ll hear something different – from straight out nonsense to something topical happening in NZ or around the world.”
Today, NZTA and Clemenger BBDO release the second iteration – Josh Thomson’s Thoughts – with the voiceover of comedian, Josh Thomson, adding commentary to the wandering mind of the ad’s stoner driver. As the Thoughts campaign continues different comedians will add their own interpretation of wandering minds to the same section of the ad.
Continuing on from the award-winning work of Blazed and Tinnyvision, Thoughts shows what can go wrong on the road when your mind is affected by drugs says NZTA principal advisor, Rachel Prince.
Says Prince: “As a nation we’ve bought the message not to drink then drive, but many Kiwis are complacent about the effects of driving stoned. We want to help Kiwis make the right decision not to drive after taking drugs. The ad is based on insight that people think driving stoned isn’t a big deal because they can compensate for being a bit slow by driving more slowly and carefully.”
Alkema adds that the agency didn’t want to stereotype stoners: “There’s no one ‘stoner’ audience so the idea of creating different personas voiced by a range of comedians lets us reflect many different audiences, with the core truth relatable to all.”
Comedian and What We Do in the Shadows actor, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, will voice the next iteration of the ad to be released on Thursday 25 February.
Client: NZ Transport Agency
Paul Graham (Principal Scientist)
Rachel Prince (Principal Advisor)
Agency: Clemenger BBDO/ Proximity
Media Agency: OMD
Production Company: Ruskin Films
Director: Nathan Price
Producer: Claris Harvey
DOP: Ginny Loans
Editor: Tim Mauger
Original Music: Lee Prebble and Barnaby Weir
Sound Design: Paul Stent
9 Comments
You’ve gotta be kidding, right? You think this commercial needs an extemporised comedy voice-over to get it’s message across.. because it will help ‘animate’ the series? The script, concept and execution are all fundamentally flawed – the commercial only suggests one thing – that it’s OK to get stoned and drive (even smash head-on into another vehicle) – PROVIDING YOU DRIVE IN A STRAIGHT LINE! That’s what my 12 year old thought you were saying to him.
You should be ashamed of yourselves.
4:13 … luckily the ad is not targeted at your 12 year old, nor indeed it is it a prohibitionary advert. It is targeting older actual marijuana users (one assumes your child is not yet the pot head he will eventually become to numb out your incessant ranting at home) who understand straight as a metaphor…and further more who will not respond to messages which don’t recognise and reflect their own experiences. The use of multiple voice-overs from comedians (stoners the lot of them…) should keep the ad both fresh and relevant. If it is cause&effect adverts showing smoking marijuana leading inevitably to horror-inducing deaths you want then the ’90s is calling, please take yourself back there and leave the rest of us here in the present in peace.
Calm down gents! Take a breather…. No one died, it’s only television…… 😉
this ad is bullshit they changed it 3 times the latest sucks ass! there is no way you think and get distracted this hard while you smoked but they show excessive bong smoking! every day there are more drunk driving crashes and tourists crash/related deaths than there are stoned related deaths/crashes, now they just keep playing this shit every day?
Just say it “drug use and driving after use is illegal and as dangerous as drink driving” it is time you grew a pair and just said it.
God im so sick of ppl who have never smoked taking the piss (so they think) out of stoners..for ur future info..Drugs do not stop u doing ANY of the things u normally do or stop u doing them well..it;s just that u cant be fuckn bothered!!
Nice to see people are being measured and constructive. John – yes that would be a simple and obvious approach, but it wouldn’t make the target audience stop and think now would it.
I think these ads hit the sweet spot of being pretty funny, and thought provoking, without having to resort to shock tactics.
Barb2604 – I speak as someone who has stupidly driven under the influence of various substances before (thankfully and luckily without consequence)
After watching these ads, and listening to the comments by my teenagers, I find these ads quite concerning. Teenagers think it’s hilarious, they love to watch the new ones, to see what stupid and funny things the guys come up with. The accident is irrelevant, as the discussion makes driving stoned a big joke. This is giving out the wrong messages. The accident should be more serious – perhaps instead of a hilarious rolling of the eyes while he smokes….he should be gurgling on blood as he dies on the gurney. Or perhaps the postie should be splattered. I guess if you’re condoning driving stoned, then this ad is very effective for the up coming driving population. Fail imo
These ads must be for the weak minded if I had a dollar for every time I’ve driven while stoned id be a fukn muti millionaire over the last 40 years and I’ve never had a single incident and I know many others that can say the same thing this ad is pathetic tbh it makes no difference at all