Holiday season is road danger season. Clemenger BBDO and the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) are making it very clear, with their strikingly visual campaign, Crossroads, that making the wrong choice when getting behind the wheel can have an unwanted, on some cases horrific, outcome.
Holiday periods are busy on Victorian roads, meaning the risk of crashes is higher. Crossroads focuses on two of the major contributors to road trauma – drink driving, which contributes to around 20% of fatalities, and speed, which plays a role in around 30 per cent of road deaths in Victoria.
The campaign, that covers TV, VOD, OOH, print, social, and audio the campaign aims to raise awareness of the heightened police presence during the festive season and to demonstrate the many methods they use to ensure everyone gets home safely.
TAC chief executive officer, Tracey Slatter, stated, “This impactful campaign is a reminder of how quickly drink-driving or speeding can turn a holiday into tragedy – and the role police play in ensuring we all make it to our destinations safely.”
The campaign’s two hero commercials were directed by FINCH director, Christopher Riggert, working in consultation with Victoria Police, Fire Rescue Victoria, Ambulance Victoria, and TAC crash experts. They present a driver transported to an ominous point of decision. In this ethereal world, the audience gets a glimpse of the driver’s future self and the impact of their choices, not only on themselves, but also on their friends and family. As the scenes play out, onlookers are seen on the outskirts of frame casting judgement on the driver. A reminder that drivers’ decisions on the road don’t only impact those in the car.
Each scene features real world emergency services personnel, who were consulted to ensure the scenarios were representative of the harrowing scenes they’re often faced with on Victoria’s roads, typically as the first responders to bear witness to the outcomes.
The stills campaign, photographed by Andreas Smetana, reconstructs real-world crash scenarios with stark restraint. A devastating head-on collision caused by drink then driving and a vehicle flipped as a result of excessive speed are shown not in the moment of impact, but in the quiet aftermath – grounding the message in recognisable reality and allowing the weight of the decision to speak for itself.
Additional imagery was created by Guy Shield – evolving the black and white world of TAC messaging to include coloured illustration.
The collaboration between agency, production, emergency services and technical crew was critical in navigating establishing these scenes and delivering imagery that feels grounded, believable and true to real-world first-response environments.
Credits
Client: TAC – Transport and Accident Commission
Executive General Manager Community: Jacqui Sampson
Senior Manager Marketing, Sponsorships & Engagement: Ange Hann
Strategic Marketing Lead: Philip Askew
Former Team Manager: Michael Knox
Campaign Manager: Katrina Nedeski
Marketing Coordinator: Emily Skinner
Road Safety: Samantha Buckis, James Plumridge & Dr David Young
Monash Research: David Logan
Agency: Clemenger BBDO
Film Production: FINCH
Stills Production: Flint
Illustration Production: Jacky Winter
A special thanks to all the Emergency Departments: Victorian Police, Fire and Ambulance.
