Graham is the human you would have to become to avoid being hurt in a car accident. He will survive the car crash you won’t. Clemenger BBDO Melbourne’s invention has proven to be a fascinating creature.

Human beings were not designed to withstand the forces in a car accident. The Transport Accident Commission is hoping that understanding human vulnerability will change how people drive.

The TAC and Clemenger BBDO Melbourne have collaborated with Royal Melbourne Hospital trauma surgeon, Christian Kenfield; Monash University Accident Research Centre crash investigator, David Logan and Melbourne sculptor Patricia Piccinini to produce Graham.

Graham is an interactive lifelike sculpture who will survive a crash. He has been designed with bodily features that might be present in humans if they had evolved to withstand the forces involved in car collisions. Studies have shown that the human body can only cope with impacts at speeds people can reach on their own, unassisted by vehicles.

UPDATE: Graham has captured the world’s curiosity. He was one of the top-trending stories on Twitter and Facebook over his first weekend. He continues to make headlines in the world’s largest newspapers and news sites, with articles appearing in publications including the New York Times, London’s Daily Mail, the Washington Post, BBC, CNN, India Today and Al Jazeera.

And less than a week after Graham’s reveal, his website had attracted more than 10.4 million page views.

By showing people what they’d have to look like to survive an accident, TAC and Clemenger hopes to get people thinking and talking about how vulnerable they are to even low speed crashes.

“People can survive running at full pace into a wall but when you’re talking about collisions involving vehicles, the speeds are faster, the forces are greater and the chances of survival are much slimmer,” stated TAC chief executive officer, Joe Calafiore.
“Cars have evolved a lot faster than humans and Graham helps us understand why we need to improve every aspect of our roads system to protect ourselves from our own mistakes.”

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne creative director, Evan Roberts, noted, “Humans will never catch up to our advancements in transport, so Graham is a way for people to think about their own vulnerability and the road toll in a totally different way – a way free of scare tactics and guilt.”

Graham also represents the Australian debut of Google Tango, the latest in immersive augmented reality technology. People will be able to use Tango to look beneath Graham’s skin and better understand how his unique features would work to cushion him from serious injury in a crash.

Graham can be examined at the State Library of Victoria until August 8, before he goes on a roadshow of regional centres. People can also interact with Graham online www.meetgraham.com.au.

School curriculum has also been developed to enhance the learning experience for students visiting Graham in person or online.
“Graham is an educational tool that will serve the community for years to come as a reminder of why we need to develop a safer road system that will protect us when things go wrong,” Calafiore said.

Credits:

Client: Transport Accident Commission

Senior Manager, Road Safety:           Sam Cockfield

Project Manager, Marketing:              Cherie McMahon

Acting Manager, Road Safety:            Samantha Buckis

Online Communications Mgr:             Sarah Mundine

Sponsorship & Marketing Co-ordinator:         Jessica McGlinchey

Project Manager, Online:                    Bruce Honey

Agency: Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

Creative Chairman:                            James McGrath

Executive Creative Director:             Ant Keogh

Creative Directors:                             Stephen de Wolf & Evan Roberts

Copywriter:                                         Tom McQueen

Art Director:                                        George McQueen

Managing Partner:                              Lee Simpson

Group Account Director:                   Naomi Gorringe

Account Director:                                Kate Joiner

Senior Planner:                                   Matt Pearce

Executive Producer:                           Sonia von Bibra

Digital Producer:                                Allan Ngo

Print Producer:                                   Nicholas Short

Retoucher:                                          Steve Pratt

Digital Designer:                                Jess Ramsey

Lead Snr Front End Developer:      Sylvain Simao

Developer:                                          Jacob Hutchings

Tester:                                                 Sunny Sehgal
PR:                                                     Nichola Patterson, Propeller

& TAC Media and Communications Team

Activation:                                          Traffik

Senior Business Director:                Tim Holman

Business Manager:                            Jake Ford

Producer:                                            Ben Sewell

Production Company:                         Flare

DOP/Cinematographers:                    Drew Dunlop, Tom Marley & Sam Coates

Post Production Company:                Finish Productions

Editors:                                                  Tom Marley & Raphaela Lee

Music Production Company:              Level Two Music

Music Composer/Arranger:                Byron Scullin

Photographer:                                       Adrian Lander

AR /Tango:                                          Airbag

Creative Technologist:                        Steven Nicholson

Managing Partner:                              Adrian Bosich

Producer:                                            Nick Venn

3D Team:                                            Patrick Gavin, Adam MacGowan,

Dmitrij Leppee, Tim Murphy & Justin Imhoff

AR Team:                                            Leigh Mannes, Rob Caparetto & Paul Stapelberg