D’Arcy Masius Benton and Bowles launched its Christmas drink-drive
offensive this week, with a disturbing ad that takes a fresh look at the
consequences of offending.
The film shows a middle-aged woman preparing food in the kitchen, backed
by a soundtrack of a boisterous group of young men urging their friend:
‘Come on Dave, just one more.’
The conversation sounds as if it comes from a party taking place in the
next room, but as the woman takes the food through, it becomes clear
that the room is empty except for her paralysed son and that she has
been making him a pureed meal.
The mother patiently feeds the pitiful figure, who is barely able to
swallow the food. In a poignant echo of his mates’ words, the mother
urges her son: ‘Come on Dave, just one more,’ as she tries to get him to
digest another spoonful.
This year’s pounds 1.2 million campaign was completed before the
Department of Transport held the pitch for its pounds 5 million account.
The business was split between DMB&B, the incumbent on the whole
account, which retained the drink-drive work, and Abbott Mead Vickers
BBDO, which won the speed reduction work (Campaign, last week).
The new ad highlights the effect of Dave’s acceptance of that extra
drink, both to himself and his mother. In recent years, DMB&B has used
several different messages, including ‘Even great blokes can kill’ and
‘Drinking and driving wrecks Christmas’.
Katie Bury, the account director at DMB&B, said: ‘We are always looking
to come at the problem from another angle. This ad addresses the fear of
being crippled, the problem of peer pressure, and works on mothers too.’
This year’s campaign is geared towards 18- to 35-year-old men, who make
up 90 per cent of the offenders.
