Pill Testing Australia and Dylan Harrison create ad to ‘bring humanity back’ to the debate
Pill Testing Australia has collaborated with director Dylan Harrison and his company Hooligan Collective to launch a one-minute film promoting the benefits of testing young people’s pills at music festivals. Harrison said that for many young people, taking drugs is a rite of passage, and he hoped the ad would bring some humanity back to the conversation.
The ad shows a young man feeling pressure to jump off a cliff into the unknown waters below. As his anxiety and uncertainty mounts, and he feels the pressure from those around him, a woman appears to offer him assistance.
The film then transitions to the reality the man is facing – having his pills tested at a festival. He is shown to be grateful for the offer.
Harrison – who was executive creative director of DDB Sydney until 2014, when he departed to pursue his directing career – said the statistics around avoidable drug-related casualties in Australia are tragic.
“Working with Pill Testing Australia, we sought to create a social asset to drive conversation, targeting decision makers, policy makers and parents, rather than young people themselves,” he said.
“For many people, drug taking is not a crime, but a rite of passage. Hopefully this film helps bring some humanity back to the conversation, reminding audiences of their impressionability and vulnerability.”
Mumbrella understands the ad’s full media schedule is still being determined, dependent upon partner support, but it is currently running online and on social.
Tim Harvey, head of marketing for Pill Testing Australia, praised Harrison’s creativity, and his ability to present a relevant and strong message.
“The fact that members of the Australian public like Dylan feel so motivated to play an active role in advocating for pill testing to be introduced, is incredibly rewarding for all the public health practitioners and volunteers involved with our work,” Harvey said.
“The Australian model of pill testing has been designed to interact with people who are about to consume an unknown substance, and this has been captured so poignantly by Dylan,” he continued. “We are looking forward to sharing his incredible work with our stakeholders and the general public through our social media platforms and website.”
The film launched on Friday.
Credits:
Client: Pill Testing Australia
Head of marketing: Tim Harvey
Production Company: Hooligan Collective
Director: Dylan Harrison
Producer: Ash McLeod
DOP: Jason White
Post-production: Vandal
Colourist: Daniel Pardy
Sound design: Nigel Crowley
Music composer: Stephen Francis
Good work!
User ID not verified.
Pill testing sin’t realsitic, you can’t tell someone’s reaction by testing pills. Who has liability? Morons.
User ID not verified.
Nice one Mr Harrison!
I applaud everything about this.
User ID not verified.
Imagine dismissing global research because of you’re opinion. Pill Testing works. It’s been proven world wide.
User ID not verified.
Depends on which method of pill testing. You could:
1. Go to a testing station with professionals using scientific methods, where you can find out the strength of your pills as well as any impurities and be reminded by the experts that any drug use is incredibly risky, or
2. Just swallow your whole stash when you see the cops.
One way or another, young people are already testing their pills. One way is proven to reduce deaths and overall drug use while providing health authorities with primary data on what the kids are taking. Guess which one.
User ID not verified.
nice ad for a very worthwhile cause. congrats Dylan
User ID not verified.
@What?….your opinion reeks of older, suburban conservative male.
Meanwhile, your kids will probably benefit from a message like this (yes, they take drugs – sorry to break it to you)
User ID not verified.
Don’t waste time testing pills. It’s called natural selection
User ID not verified.
Imagine having absolutely no empathy whatsoever.
User ID not verified.
Imagine the outcry ,if a death were to follow a government sanctioned pill test that gave the user an all-clear?
Dangerous ground for Gladys.
User ID not verified.
Great piece of content! Love the creative strategy of this video – the jumping off the cliff analogy is so on point. Well done all!
User ID not verified.
Johnny, you would be absolutely shit at parties.
User ID not verified.
Great ad, Dylan. Spot on with the focus on harm minimisation for young people.
User ID not verified.
If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Gudonya for taking this topic on and executing it so beautifully.
User ID not verified.