11 July, 2020
Do you remember those ads warning against the dangers of microsleeps?
My recollection - which could be embellished or tarnished by the passage of time and the inaccuracy of memory - is that you see a dad behind the wheel at night battling to keep his eyes open. Only moments pass, but once his eyes are open again, the world as he knows it has completely changed.
He’s on the wrong side of the road. There’s beeping. Screaming. Oncoming lights. He has just milliseconds to process what’s happened before the inevitable crash, and you can see the panic and despair in his eyes. ‘What happened? How did I get here? What do I do next?’
My friends and I discussed this ad a lot while attempting to drive back from Woodford in Queensland after Splendour in the Grass in 2011. We were filthy, and filthy tired, and desperate to do the 981 kilometre journey in one day. There was a desperation to get home. Get clean. Get to bed. But there was also the reality that we were dead tired, barely functional and putting lives at risk. We’d discuss it when we saw a truck coming in the other direction on sections of road which weren’t yet a dual carriageway, and we’d scream “MICROSLEEP” when we thought the person behind the wheel was getting tired. Ultimately, the ad scared us into being slightly more responsible.
I think of it too when my younger brother - a paramedic down in Victoria - attempts to drive from Melbourne to Sydney in one go (obviously not possible in July, 2020). His knowledge of the reality of the trauma that can come with falling asleep behind the wheel means he’s been known to pull over and nap in his ute until it’s safe for him to get back on the road.
For many people I know, that ad acted as a behaviour changer. (If there’s a similar ad for you and your behaviours, let me know: vivienne@mumbrella.com.au).
Now - as Victoria goes into lockdown again, and other states risk falling asleep at the wheel - is a time when we need some serious behaviour change. But have you seen any truly effective COVID-19 messaging, marketing or advertising? Has there been anything powerful enough (beyond our general state of fear and anxiety) to force change?
As consumers tire of the ‘new normal’ and new phrases such as ‘social distancing’, what can communicators do to make sure we don’t all become the dad behind the wheel, with oncoming trauma wondering ‘What went wrong?’
It’s a time we need strong, convincing communication, and I don’t think the Government’s ads thus far have been hard-hitting enough.
And while the Government grapples with how to use the realities of COVID to connect with consumers and change their behaviour, some brands have used it in a bid to tell their customers their purpose and reaffirm their proposition. With every crisis comes opportunity, right?
I linked to this video a few months back, which hilariously demonstrated that every COVID ad was the same. There was sombre music. Sweeping images of empty cities. And the ultimate conclusion that we’re all in this together.
