In April this year, Ogilvy & Mather Brasil won a White Pencil for its campaign called Security Mums, that invited the mums of 33 football hooligans to be security guards during Brazil’s most violent game of each season, Sport Recife vs. Náutico.
The Norwegian authorities were facing similar dangerous behaviour by lorry drivers. And more than 3,000 HGVs cross the border into Norway every day.
Many of these drivers come from Eastern Europe and are not used to Norway’s challenging driving conditions. They’re therefore three times more likely to be involved in a road traffic accident. The Norwegian authorities have not had much success in entering into a dialogue with these drivers.
So agency Geelmuyden Kiese decided, too, that the only thing to do was to call mum.
In the campaign film lorry driver, Lukasz Gorzynik’s mum, has been invited by the Norwegian authorities to accompany her son on the job in Norway. The hope is that the mother of five can help them make working conditions and driving conditions for foreign lorry drivers in Norway both safer and better.
The film, Mother Presents, aims to “raise awareness of working conditions in Norway and driving conditions on the Norwegian roads. It is also important to show foreign lorry drivers that the Norwegian authorities are trustworthy and dependable,” stated Ingrid Finboe Svendsen, director of the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority (one of the organisations behind the public awareness campaign.)
“It has been a challenge for the authorities to get in touch with lorry drivers from Eastern Europe. So we asked ourselves the question, ‘Who are they going to listen to?’” Finboe Svendsen, added.
“Foreign lorry drivers are important for Norway, and they are very welcome here on the Norwegian roads. Nonetheless, Norway is a unique country with slippery, steep, winding and narrow roads. Lorry drivers must be well-prepared. If not, they risk finding themselves in dangerous situations on the road. Our hope is that this public awareness campaign will be of help to those foreign lorry drivers whose work brings them to Norway.”
There are few jobs in which you are as likely to be involved in a work-related accident as the job of lorry driver. 14% of road haulage firms operating in Norway experienced accidents involving injury in the course of the past twelve months, according to a research report by the research body Fafo and the Norwegian Institute of Transport Economics.
In recent years, Eastern European lorry drivers have become significantly better equipped to negotiate the harsh Norwegian winter, according to figures published by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. In spite of this, foreign lorry drivers continue to be three times more likely to be involved in road traffic accidents on the Norwegian roads.
In Norway there are approximately 35% more fatalities per capita from road traffic accidents involving heavy goods vehicles compared with the European average, according to Fafo and the Norwegian Institute of Transport Economics.
Many foreign lorry drivers are underpaid. This is partly due to the fact that they are not aware of their right to a minimum wage and a food allowance when driving a cabotage in Norway.
The star of the film, Anna Gorzynik, commented, “I never dreamed that someone in a country so far away would consider my thoughts valuable and worth hearing. I’m just a very ordinary lady. I’ve been given such a warm welcome here, and I’m happy to be able to help. I really admire lorry drivers who earn money for their families back home.”
Gorzynik has worked at an old people’s home for the past 20 years. She owns her own flat in Krosno, where she has plenty of space for guests so that her five children, aged 21 to 33, can come and visit her there.
“When Lukasz is out on the road I am always worried. I think to myself, will he reach his destination in one piece, is he keeping himself healthy, will he be robbed, will he be involved in an accident? I’m a mother, so it’s only natural that I worry.”
Lukasz has been a professional lorry driver ever since he completed his military service. “You are on your own out on the road, which means that you are your own boss, employee, bodyguard and journey planner all rolled into one. But the most important thing of all is that you are responsible for your own and others’ safety out on the road.
Credits:
Agency: Geelmuyden Kiese
Client director: Geir Ove Harnes
Project manager: Celine Gran
Copywriters: Trygve Andreas Tønnessen, Morten Borgestad & Sarah Willoch
Advisor: Nina Schage
Graphic sesigners: Hanne Årsnes & Viktor Myhre Sakshaug
Web designer: Bjørn Kalberg Salte
Community manager: Paal Nygård
Production company: Bacon
Director: Tarik Saleh
Producer: Ola Narum Berg & Magne Lyngner
Photo: Daniel Voldheim/Marianne Bakke
Editor: Marcus Kryler
Grade: Julien Alary
Lead audio: Christian Schaaning
Online: Andrew Highton
Post producer: Øystein Dyb
Music: Grzegorz Turnau & Magda Umer – Bajka Iskierki
Media Partner: Be On/AOL
