2013 Winners & Shortlists

CRASH TEXT DUMMIES

Bronze

Case Film

Presentation Board

BrandNISSAN MIDDLE EAST
Product/ServiceROAD SAFETY AWARENESS
EntrantTBWA\RAAD UAE Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryUSE OF AMBIENT MEDIA: LARGE SCALE
Entrant Company TBWA\RAAD UAE Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Advertising Agency TBWA\RAAD UAE Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Agency TBWA\RAAD UAE Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
PR Agency KETCHUM RAAD MIDDLE EAST Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Results and Effectiveness

The sculpture made its way around Dubai campuses. In just 7 days, thousands got the message. The press covered it, as well as TV and radio stations. Over 500 people forwarded it to their friends and family on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest via the QR code, reaching exponentially more people across their social media networks.

Creative Execution

We created a Crash Text Dummy, a towering sculpture in the shape of the popular text shortcut “FYI”, made purely from smashed car parts. For several days, we visited scrapyards, looking through hundreds of smashed cars for parts that we then welded together into a 1.8m tall sculpture. A smashed window, a bent wheel, a ruptured car door, a burnt seat, a ripped teddy bear—each conjured up an eerie vision of its path to the junkyard. A banner next to the sculpture contained a QR code that when scanned, prompts the youth to post a message on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. This includes a Don’t Text & Drive appeal, an image of the sculpture, and a link to the Nissan Safety Page.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

UAE residents are 7 times more likely to die in car accidents, compared to the UK. One of the leading causes is texting and driving. Even after losing a national football star and renewed police enforcement, the number of accidents continued to rise. Nissan’s innovations are designed to keep drivers safe. But even the most advance technology is powerless when drivers are distracted. We decided to raise awareness among the highest-risk segment—college students. We needed to prove to young drivers that texting and driving are a deadly mix, and shake them out of their apathy. We combined the language of texting with the consequences of texting.

Credits

Name Company Role
Martin Lever TBWA\RAAD UAE Dubai Executive Creative Director
Sandeep Fernandes TBWA\RAAD UAE Dubai Creative Director
Bassam Doss TBWA\RAAD UAE Dubai Associate Creative Director/Copywriter
Sumanth Wilkins TBWA\RAAD UAE Dubai Art Director
Tuan Le TBWA\RAAD UAE Dubai Copywriter
Hazem Atieh TBWA\RAAD UAE Dubai Production Manager
Saad Gharzeddine TBWA\RAAD UAE Dubai Account Director
Natasha Monteiro TBWA\RAAD UAE Dubai Account Manager
Ibrahim El Tawil TBWA\RAAD UAE Dubai Account Executive
Raul Talwar TBWA\RAAD UAE Dubai Intern
Samir Cherfan Nissan Middle East Director – Sales/Marketing
Syed Ahmed Nissan Middle East General Manager – Sales/Marketing
Yolande Pineda Nissan Middle East General Manager – Corp Comms
Abdul Illah Wazni Nissan Middle East Senior Marketing Manager
Francis Contreras TBWA\RAAD UAE Dubai Photographer
Jason Simms KETCHUM RAAD MIDDLE EAST Account Director (Automotive)
Tina Varghese KETCHUM RAAD MIDDLE EAST Account Manager
Major Steadman TBWA\RAAD Digital Arts Network Head of Digital Arts Network
Sarabjeet Singh TBWA\RAAD Digital Arts Network Senior Flash Developer/Programmer
Nicola Gregson KETCHUM RAAD MIDDLE EAST Managing Director