Simon Jarosz

This campaign was briefed to our agency as a result of numerous teenage deaths in rural Queensland from drowning in restricted water areas. After all attempts to warn teenagers and fencing around these areas failed, a new approach was needed. The reality is we needed to stop telling teenagers from an authoritive perspective and empower them with the notion of respecting these places as they respect their friends.

 We created a story typical to this audience, a group of teens covertly slipping away to spend time together as friends. We show all the typical behaviours and attitudes expected from this audience and load the story and narrative with the expected outcome of rebellious teenagers. The story plays out through a constant state of contrast; reckless behaviour juxtaposes expressions of regret, the exhilaration of running through warm sunset lighting cuts to a pensive gaze in low evening light from a car window and the frantic movement of a handheld camera will contradict the wide eerie pans of a sleepy country town.

The outcome of this story is we witness the outcome of teenage reckless behaviour, the loss of life as a result and the burden of guilt amongst these friends as they visit the location on the anniversary of this tragic event.

We realised that we can’t stop teens from visiting these areas but we can get them to understand they aren’t bulletproof when they’re there. We did this by creating a content series that communicated the key message: Respect the water like you respect your mates.

The results were outstanding! 76% of the teenagers surveyed post campaign said the advert grabbed their attention. 89% said they understood what the advert was saying. 61% acknowledged the advert made them rethink their behaviour towards risks and danger.