You’ve seen Zoë Bell in movies, but you may not know it. She’s famous in Hollywood and famous in New Zealand because the New Zealander has conquered the film world as a stunt woman. In fact, her nickname is Tarantino’s muse. Those unforgettable Uma Thurman fight scenes in Kill Bill? They’re Zoë Bell in action. And she has flipped cars, surfed cars, been hit by cars and flipped over cars.
But Ogilvy has hired her to do something even more dangerous in car for Auckland Transport. And watching it will make you wince. Bell tells you her story in a selfie video – looking at the camera (read: you) over her shoulder while she drinks a coffee, checks herself in the rear vision mirror, puts on her lipstick…and drives a high-performance Mustang around her old neighbourhood in Auckland.
Ogilvy has aptly called the video The Most Dangerous Stunt in the World.
And it would be were she not being towed. As a viewer, you have to feel relief when you discover that.
“But I’ll tell you one thing that I definitely won’t do,” Bell states after listing the death-defying feats she has accomplished, “and that’s drive distracted.”
“ You’re taking other people’s lives in your hands, that’s literally what you’re doing when you send a text saying you’re running five mins late,” Zoë told TV3 Newshub reporter, Kate Rodger. “It might be longer than five mins if you don’t get it right.”
Auckland Transport Community Transport Manager, Claire Dixon, added, “It only takes a second of diverted attention to increase the likelihood of a crash, but the number of people driving distracted is getting worse, not better. To get the message across we needed to deliver it in a credible way. So we partnered with Zoë Bell to show that if a gutsy Hollywood stunt woman wouldn’t drive distracted, then neither should anyone else.”
The Most Dangerous Stunt In The World amassed hundreds of thousands of views within hours on Bell’ s personal Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts, accompanied by a steady stream of audience feedback, with one viewer commenting, “As an emergency first responder, I have attended in my time far too many road traffic accidents resulting in injury & death caused by distracted drivers – it’s bloody sad, depressing and easily resolvable….be responsible for yourself but more importantly ‘others’…!”.
National news & entertainment stations have run coverage of the campaign and the message has resonated with people around the world, including views from actress, Juliette Lewis, and popular English singer, KT Tunstall.
https://youtu.be/IAiLTqDouCM
Ogilvy executive creative director, Lisa Fedyszyn, commented, “Distracted driving is something we’ve all done and do – knowingly or not – from a glance at the phone, to a sip of coffee, or an adjustment of the hair or make-up. So, we needed to mirror these dangerous actions back to all Aucklanders, in a non-judgmental way, to get them to see just how dangerous these driving habits can be.
“Having a kick-arse, fearless and daring stunt woman such as Zoë Bell speaking out against these dangerous actions we perform every day is something we’re very excited about and grateful for.”
Credits:
Agency: Ogilvy, New Zealand
Chief Creative Officer: Regan Grafton
Executive Creative Directors: Lisa Fedyszyn & Jonathan McMahon
Creative Director: Rupert Hancock
Senior Creative: Cece Chu
Design Director : Danny Carlsen
Head of Design: Nathan Chambers
Designers: James O’Connor & Erin Joyce
Head of Operations: Siobhan Burke
Agency Film Producer: Matt McPhail
Business Director: Chris Hotchin
Strategy Director: Ben Fielding
Marketing Director & PR: Huia Ngapo
Digital Director: Helen Breckon
Production Company: Film 360
Director & DOP: Darryl Ward
Senior Producer: Sage Haggart
Head of Post Production: Martin Spencer
Senior Editor: Ben Marshall
Motion Graphic Designer: Anna Bittle
Editor: Gonzalo Deza
Audio Engineer: Keegan Meiring
Client: Auckland Transport
Community Transport Manager: Claire Dixon
Marketing Services Manager: Mark Sharman
Marketing Campaign Advisor: Kelly Hansen
Community Transport Team Leader: Kim Modlin
