The THINK! Christmas Drink Drive campaign launched on Friday 30 November.

Following the successful launch of the new approach in July 2007, we will be continuing with the same strategy for Christmas.

The campaign aims to convince all drivers, with a particular focus on young male drivers aged 17-29 years, that a drink drive conviction has the potential to ruin their life by highlighting a mixture of the legal and personal consequences:

• being caught & breathalysed by the police;
• 12 month driving ban;
• criminal record;
• hefty fine;
• lifestyle changes (i.e. potential loss of job, relationships or car).

The aim of the Christmas campaign is to confront our target audience with the bleak reality of getting caught drink driving in order to get them to resist the temptation of having a second pint then driving this Christmas. The key message is 'That pint could come between you and Christmas', which will also be used as a strapline in the advertising materials.

Drink Drive Posters and Leaflet

The current leaflet and posters are relevant for the Christmas campaign and are currently available to be viewed and ordered directly from the THINK catalogue.

Campaign Timings

The advertising dates are as follows:

TV advertising: 1-23 December (all channels).
Cinema advertising: 30 November 2007 - 3 January 2008.
Radio advertising: 29 November - 24 December (national and regional stations).

In-pub advertising in male washrooms: 1-31 December.
Outdoor (ATM) advertising: 17-30 December.
Partnership marketing campaign: November/December.
Online advertising: TBC.

How was the Campaign Developed?

The current THINK! Drink Drive campaign was developed after four phases of extensive independent qualitative and quantitative research with the target audience spanning 11 months.

The findings of this research showed that the personal consequences of a drink drive conviction are motivating to young men, are new news, and can be related to drink driving (1-3 pints).

Although the personal consequences of a drink drive conviction may seem lower key and lack impact compared to a crash, young men believe they are more realistic, relatable, speak directly to them as low level drink drivers, and are more intrusive and thought provoking.

Campaign Objectives

• To increase awareness of the personal consequences of a drink driving conviction.
• To encourage the belief that 1 or 2 drinks are too many before driving.
• To reinforce and build the social stigma around drink driving.

Key Messages

• THINK! Don't Drink and Drive.
• A drink drive conviction has the potential to ruin your life.

Target Audience

• All drivers, with particular focus on young men aged 17-29 years.
• 1-3 pint drink drivers, not drunk drivers.
• Young men are consistently over-represented in drink drive casualty figures and research shows they are more likely to admit to driving when over the legal limit or when unsure if they're over the legal limit.

Development of the Current Strategy

Previous campaigns have aimed to persuade young men of the link between drink driving and crashing. This message has been taken on board but new research has shown that attitudes have altered and that young men now believe that:

• A crash is unlikely after 1-2 drinks.
• Drink drive ads showing a crash are aimed at drunk drivers (more than 3 pints), therefore they opt-out of those messages.
• They're more likely to be over the limit and caught after 1-2 drinks.
• The legal implications of drink driving such as imprisonment, a 12 month driving ban and a criminal record are much more shocking and compelling to them.

Therefore, in order to have a new and realistic conversation with young men about drink driving, the current Campaign aims to shift the conversation on from shock and the risk of killing other people to a focus on the more compelling personal consequences of a drink driving conviction.

For these reasons the campaign focuses on the 'moment of doubt' around the decision whether to have a second pint (as this is the moment that young men start to doubt whether they should drive or not) and highlights that a drink drive conviction has the potential to ruin your life.

The 'Moment of Doubt' TV ad

• Moment of Doubt (.mpg - 2,667kb)

The TV ad focuses on Matt, a young man out for a couple of quick drinks with some friends, as he's deciding whether or not to have a second pint before driving home.

As Matt is deciding what to order his world freezes and the barman he's about to order from suddenly transforms into a succession of characters that Matt would encounter if he's caught drink driving.

Matt is powerless to do anything as he sees a police officer asking him to step out of the car for a breath test, a solicitor explaining that he's going to get a 12 month driving ban, his boss explaining that it's company policy not to keep employing someone who has a drink drive conviction, a used car dealer offering him a very low price for his car because he has to sell it quickly to pay a hefty drink driving fine and Matt's partner, angry and distressed that Matt has lost his licence, his job and his car.

Finally, the barman appears again and puts the question to Matt - "So, what's it going to be?"

Using the barman in this way has created an eerie, personal conversation with the viewer which they can't opt out of. The viewer is:

• forced to THINK! about what they'd do in that situation;
• left with the knowledge that a drink drive conviction could ruin their life;
• left feeling uncomfortable.