2014 Winners & Shortlists

CRASH TEXT DUMMIES

Gold

Case Film

Presentation Board

BrandNISSAN MIDDLE EAST
Product/ServiceANTI-TEXTING AND DRIVING
EntrantTBWA\RAAD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryTypography
Entrant Company TBWA\RAAD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Advertising Agency TBWA\RAAD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Brief Explanation

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. But a press ad or poster just wouldn't cut it for the thumbing generation. We had to do something they just couldn't ignore. And to achieve this, we combined the language of texting with the consequences of texting.

The Brief

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. So they wanted to make people aware of the dangers of texting and driving.

How the final design was conceived

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 weighing over a ton. A smashed window, a bent wheel, a ruptured car door, a burnt seat, a ripped teddy bear, —each conjured up the accident it came from. A banner contained a QR code that when scanned, prompts the youth to post a message on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

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.

Credits

Name Company Role
Saad Gharzeddine TBWA\RAAD Senior Account Director
Natasha Monteiro TBWA\RAAD Senior Account Manager
Sandeep Fernandes TBWA\RAAD Creative Director
Sumanth Wilkins TBWA\RAAD Senior Art Director\Typographer
Bassam Doss TBWA\RAAD Associate Creative Director\Copywriter
Tuan Le TBWA\RAAD Senior English Copywriter\Typographer
Hazem Atieh TBWA\RAAD Agency Producer
Samir Cherfan Nissan Middle East Managing Director
Yolande Pineda Nissan Middle East General Manager Corp Comms
Abdul Illah Wazni Nissan Middle East Senior Marketing Manager