Experts go undercover for NZ Transport Agency in new spot via Clemenger BBDO, Wellington

Clemenger BBDO and the NZ Transport Agency have launched a new campaign to reduce young driver fatalities by getting them into safer cars.

New Zealand’s young drivers are seven times more likely to be in a fatal crash than any other driver. According to Rachel Prince, principal advisor of advertising at the NZ Transport Agency, this is a combination of inexperience and the types of cars they’re driving.

Says Prince: “Despite significant advancements in crash protection, our least experienced drivers are still being put in the least safe vehicles. And they’re dying because of it. Putting teens in dungers is a long held tradition. Through research, we know that getting parents to put their teens in better cars – when they’re so vulnerable to wrecking them – will be a tough challenge.”

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Says Emily Beautrais, creative director, Clemenger BBDO: “This work came from the heart-wrenching observation that the parents who attend crashes know to choose safe cars for their own teens. Other parents simply don’t have this insight. We allowed them to share it in an unexpected way, at least for our unsuspecting parents.”

The campaign launched with a TV commercial directed by Florian Habicht of Curious. It’s the first commercial from the filmmaker famous for authentic documentaries like ‘Spookers’, ‘Pulp’ and ‘Kaikohe Demolition’.

Says Habicht: “It was an honour to be trusted to make a commercial in an unconventional way in order to get real, super authentic performances. I’m proud to have made something that could save young drivers’ lives.”

The TVC is supported with crash experts helping parents across social and in places where cars are sold around the country and online.

Client: NZ Transport Agency