Assignment

1, Natalie Brdar and Joan Luebering

Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving public service campaign, Ad Council

In 1982, the Ad Council joined the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to
combat drunk driving. The famous Friends Dont Let Friends Drive Drunk PSA helped
change public opinion and reduce drunk-driving deaths from 50% to 30% of road fatalities
by 1999. However, in 2000, deaths began to rise again. (Ad Council, n.d., a, p. 1 ).

The campaign was refocused on drivers, rather than on their friends. In line with this
strategy, extensive research was done to create a profile of the group most likely to cause
drunk-driving accidents: men ages 21-34, average Joes (Ad Council, n.d., 4) who didnt
see themselves as drunk in spite of being buzzed or having a few (or many). Some had
driven drunk before, so they didnt believe they were a danger on the road.

The main idea of the campaign was to spread awareness of the dangers of driving buzzed
and to prevent impaired driving by defining the feeling of being buzzed as a reason not to
get behind the wheel (Ad Council n.d., a, p. 2.) The campaign message was Buzzed Driving
Is Drunk Driving, a tagline that uses a compact, parallel structure to enforce its message.

The unique selling proposition of the campaign was to redefine drunk driving in the
audiences own terms. In effect, the Ad Council repositioned its brand in light of the
audiences disconnect with its message.

The campaign was launched to considerable buzz in 2005, using billboards and late-night
TV PSAs to place the message in the target audiences environment. Its marketing now
includes social media, including a pledge that uses public commitment for compliance.

Ads like this, http://cargocollective.com/bryankarr/Ad-Council-Buzzed-Driving-Campaign,
featured men like the target audience. They used a consumer-focused, picture yourself
strategy (Berman, 2010) and similarity and social proof. (Cialdini, 2009). The tone was
honest and casual, using the audiences language. As mini movies (Berman 2010) they
seemed realistic, and close-ups and naturalistic sound gave a you are there feel. The ads
used the strategy of validating a decision or action by appealing to reason (Miller, 2010, p.
50) equating way too many and one too many drinks. Similar ads targeted women ages
21-44 after drunk driving deaths rose in the group in 2009 (Ad Council, n.d., b, p. 3).

Later ads also used the scarcity strategy (Cialdini, 2009), creating buy-in by focusing on
what a driver could lose if arrested. The headline, Buzzed, Busted, Broke, used a tricolon,
alliteration, and parallel construction to make the point with powerful economy. It built so
well on series familiarity that this ad, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbvm_oCMvEM,

needed no actors to provide social proof, simply using muted bar sounds and a neon buzz
to create a sense of isolation from the group.

Print ads also showed the campaigns
effective use of rhetorical devices to drive
home the message. This minimalist ad, which
used Bermans shock strategy (Berman,
2010), featured a pair of identical pictures
and short, parallel, alliterative phrases. Both
syntactically and visually, it asked viewers to
make the equation, reinforcing commitment.

This ad used humor and exaggeration. The
headline You were only buzzed? Then this is
only a sprain continued the familiar
equation of drunk and buzzed driving with a
missing but implied second term. A single
line of body text, Dont let a little buzz ruin
your holiday, gave topical appeal. (The ad
was released in November, 2010.) The tone
was direct and relatable, and the brand
personality was one of the guys.

The campaign has done well in achieving its goals. Half of adults surveyed and 6 in 10 men
in the target group know it, and the number who say they are extremely concerned about
drunk driving has risen significantly. (Ad Council, n.d., 6). But the campaign faces a threat:
drunk driving deaths rose 4.6% in 2012 (U. S. Dept . of Transportation, 2013).

New research adds more troubling information. A study showed people in their 20s knew
the facts about drunk driving, but once drunk were too impaired either to drive or to
decide not to drive. People who had stopped drinking were even more willing to drive than
people who were still drinking, even at the same blood alcohol content (BAC) (Morris et al.,
2014). Another study provides evidence than even minimal BAC is dangerous when driving
(Phillips, Souza, & Moshfegh, 2014).

A SWOT analysis focusing on the problem shows that the campaign has helped change the
social norm about drunk driving. Its weakness is that it was unable to change peoples
drinking behaviors entirely. The new research offers an opportunity to refocus the
campaign, as it helps explain an aspect of those behaviors in the target audience.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to change deeply entrenched social behaviors.


Our new strategy is to increase awareness that once people start drinking, they are likely to
make poor decisions about their ability to drive, even if they do not intend to drive drunk.
It will build on the existing Buzzed Driving campaign with the compliance strategy.

We target a segment of the current campaign audience, young people of the same profile.
The subgroup is those who are familiar with the campaign and whose self-image as socially
responsible people includes at least a nominal commitment not to drive drunk. Studies
have confirmed a high level of awareness of the Buzzed campaign. One study reports that
74% of men 21-34 who had seen at least one said they had recently refrained from
driving after drinking (Ad Council, n.d., a, p. 5). So we will use the commitment and
consistency compliance strategy and ask them to take a further step.

The USP also builds on the present campaign. Just as the it offered a new concept of drunk
driving and a socially compelling reason to change, our campaign offers new
understanding, social inducement to change, and an easy way to do so. By doing so, young
adults can meet their Maslovian self-esteem need as socially responsible people.

The tagline, Before a good time, call, is a pun
on both the familiar song Jenny/867-5309
and the headline, Make the right call. It uses
what Miller describes as a clear, strong call to
action (Miller, 2010, p. 50) in the imperative
voice, and uses internal punctuation and
spacing to emphasize vital words.

The headline invokes Cialdinis commitment
strategy and Millers strategy of the power of
personal identity.

The body text uses the imperative voice, short
sentences, and language the audience might
use. It employs Bermans strategies of honesty,
information, and urgency.

Visually, the arrow emphasizes the call before
you drink concept: it is clearly outside a bar,
and because it faces left, implies back up. It
ties into the current neon campaign.
Integrating the brands history in this way

helps reinforce commitment among those who are familiar with and nominally believe in
the campaign message. The sign also aids the viewers focus by following the Z-Pattern.

The rule of thirds is employed: the essential pieces of information are separated into the
top, middle, and bottom thirds. The tagline is featured at the top, the headline in the middle,
and the overall campaign tagline and #TAXI information is near the bottom.

The colors used in the ad are well contrasted, as blue and orange are considered a pleasing
combination, and the bright white of the sign emphasizes the tagline. In addition, the color
scheme makes the yellow MADD #TAXI logo stick out, calling attention to its importance.

MADD is the partner we have chosen for the campaign. We have the same mission, and
cooperation reduces competition for ad slots. More important, the partnership focuses on
the message to call for a ride and gives the audience an option if they dont plan ahead.

Our marketing tactics include using the same media as the present campaign in the
audiences environment. We will add posters for bar windows, reinforcing the call first
idea. We will use social media to publicize the new research, rather than crowd it into the
print ad. We will launch a press campaign about the research. We may use the familiarity of
the classic Jenny/867-5309 song by creating PSAs with some of its current cover artists.

Reference list

Ad Council. (n.d.). Drunk driving prevention. Retrieved January 24 2014, from
http://www.adcouncil.org/Impact/Case-Studies-Best-Practices/Drunk-Driving-
Prevention.

Ad Council. (n.d., a) Drunk driving prevention campaign case study. Retrieved January 24,
2014, from
http://www.aef.com/pdf/in_class/case_histories/ad_council/buzzeddriving.pdf

Ad Council. (n.d., b). Drunk driving prevention campaign case study. Retrieved January 28,
2014, from
www,adcouncil.org/content/download/1909/17291/version/1/file/CaseStudy_BuzzedDr
iving.pdf

Berman, M. (2010). The copywriters toolkit: The complete guide to strategic advertising
copy. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Cialdini, R. B. (2009). Influence: Science and practice. 5th ed. Boston: Pearson.

Green, M. (2013 July 24) Drunk driving prevention and the effectiveness of media
campaigns. Absolute Advocacy http://www.absoluteadvocacy.org/drunk-driving-
prevention-media-campaigns/ accessed 1/28/14

Miller, K. L. (2010). The nonprofit marketing guide: High-impact, low-cost ways to build
support for your good cause. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Morris, D. H., Treloar, H. R., Niculete, M. E., & McCarthy, D. M. (2014). Perceived danger
while intoxicated uniquely contributes to driving after drinking. Alcoholism: Clinical and
Experimental Research, 39(2), 521-528.

Phillips, D. P., Sousa A. L. R., & Moshfegh, R. T. (2014, 7 January). Official blame for drivers
with very low blood alcohol content: there is no safe combination of drinking and driving.
Injury Prevention. DOI: 10.1136/injuryprev-2013-040925. Accessed 2/6/14.

U.S. Department of Transportation. (2013, November). 2012 Motor Vehicle Crashes:
Overview. Traffic Safety Facts. http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811856.pdf