Clemenger Melbourne gives world changing Kombi accident ad a makeover for 2015
Two decades after the TAC in Victoria and Grey Advertising changed the way governments around the world approached road safety promotion, Clemenger Melbourne has given the iconic Kombi commercial a makeover, revealing a completely different outcome thanks to technology advances.
The original commercial left audiences reeling as the the beautiful dawn vista was shattered when the sleepy driver plunged his Kombi van headlong into an oncoming truck.
The shocking effect of the ad set the standard for two decades of road safety advertising around the world and launched Grey on the run to a string of awards at advertising festivals around the world as it dominated the public service announcement category.
The ad was also credited with lowering the Australian road toll.
Clemenger’s homage to the campaign features a modern VW but the same circumstances – a sleepy driver at dawn, his girlfriend beside him asleep and an oncoming truck.
But the difference is a five star rated car, road dividing wires, driver alerting lane lines and in-car alerts that turn the tragic outcome of 1994 into a near miss.
The ad is the latest step in Victoria’s Towards Zero campaign which is moving from shock to public education.
Credits:
TAC
Manager, Road Safety – Sam Cockfield
Manager, Technical & Policy, Road Safety – Jessica Truong
Marketing Manager, Community Relations – Jodi Gubana
Document2
Project Manager, Community Relations – Cherie McMahon
Clemenger BBDO Melbourne
Creative Chairman James McGrath
Executive Creative Director Ant Keogh
Creative Director Stephen de Wolf
Art Director Jackson Harper
Copywriter Shannon Crowe
Managing Partner Lee Simpson
Group Account Director Naomi Gorringe
Account Director Kate Joiner
Account Manager Pat Nally
Executive Producer, TV Sonia Von Bibra
Senior Agency Producer TV Emma Johnson
Senior Agency Producer Digital Ben Crowe
Agency Producer, Print Nicholas Short
Senior Planner Matt Pearce
Director of Design Jake Turnbull
Production
Director Bruce Hunt
Producer Catherine Jarman
Executive Producer Michael Ritchie
DOP/Cinematographer Ross Emery
Production Company Revolver
Editor Seth Lockwood
Flame Artist Heather Galvin
Colour Grade Edel Rafferty
Post-Production Producer Olivia Carolan
Post Production Company Method Studios
Sound Engineer Paul le Couteur
Sound House Flagstaff Studios
Original Kombi ad
Director Mat Humphrey, Great Southern Films
Agency Grey Melbourne
It’s a interesting approach but the execution is a bit clunky? Did they really need to show the old ad in split screen?
Could it not have been at that split second moment before he crashes he recalls the old ad, but in his case the outcome is very different?
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they couldn’t crack a new idea…
then and now is irrelevant on this category. It is only about now.
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I remember the first ad came out just after I bought an old VW kombie. Probably made me a safer driver. I think the split screen works well. But i guess you have to have been around for the original.
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I remember the first ad from when I was young, not everyone would (or was even born) so think the split screen works well. Great ad
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Thankfully I never had to suffer that ad – not living in Victoria – but I saw it occasionally when referenced by shows like 7:30 Report. I couldn’t help thinking how stupid and unrealistic it was. Since when does anybody delibrately drive at right angles into a truck? It just seemed to be a bit of self-indulgence by a bunch of cadets given their head by a bloated government department. The fact that other states weren’t exactly clamouring to show the ad speaks volumes.
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I grew up in NSW and saw the advert. It definitely got a run in that state. Maybe it was in cinemas.
I don’t think the guy was deliberately driving into a truck at right angles. To me it looks like he came in at an angle and caught the corner of the kombi which would have pulled it into what appears to be a right angle. Seems legit enough.
Also if you have ever driven a kombi you know there is zero protection at the front. It would tear apart like that quite easily.
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