“If you feel different, you drive different.”
That’s the tagline on two new public service ads from the Ad Council that aim to get marijuana users to think twice before getting behind the wheel and driving while high.
Research indicates that young men do not believe consuming marijuana has an effect on their driving. Thus, the challenge for this campaign is to create doubt in this long-standing claim, while considering that the young male target trusts their experiences over experts, especially when it comes to something as polarizing as marijuana usage and is highly resistant to being told what to do.
“Our strategy focused on solving a timeless paradox,” said Amber Hahn, SVP, Head of Integrated Strategy at Madwell, the agency that developed the creative. “We know young men are resistant to messages from enforcers and experts, particularly around topics like marijuana use. The best way to begin to change attitudes and behavior on this issue is to frame it up through the lens of their personal experience, as if it was coming from a peer.”
In a 15-second spot titled “I’m in an Ad,” the hero, in a smoky house party, breaks character (and the 4th wall) to remind the audience not to drive if they’re high. As the lights go up, the smoke-filled room is revealed to actually be a studio set.
In the 30-second “Not Camping Day” spot, four friends smoke marijuana while packing for a camping trip, but realize they can’t leave when no one gets behind the wheel to drive because everyone is high. They make the best of the situation by camping on the front lawn instead.
Each ad ends with the tagline, “If you feel different, you drive different,” and a reminder that driving while high is illegal everywhere, including in states where marijuana consumption is legal.
“From slowed reaction time and impaired judgment to decreased coordination, driving under the influence of marijuana puts all motorists at risk. This vital campaign educates drivers on the dangers of driving high while reminding them it is always illegal, and does so in a way that speaks candidly – not condescendingly – to our target,” said Michelle Hillman, Chief Campaign Development Officer at the Ad Council.
The partners were determined to handle the topic sensitively considering the history of how scare tactics have been used unsuccessfully to address drug use in America. Madwell’s work focuses instead on the straightforward traffic safety message: if you’re high, just don’t drive.
“Our goal was to create something that spoke differently within the category, and to our target,” said Madwell’s Associate Creative Director, C.J. Thomas. “We didn’t want to villainize the act of consuming marijuana or people who choose to do it. We just wanted to show people having fun and enjoying themselves, while also making the right decision not to drive when they’re high.”
