Consequences
RSA
Issue 50 | February 2019
Agency
BBDO Dublin
Creative Team
Creative Executive Creative Director Dylan Cotter Art Director Clayton Homer Copywriter Dillon Elliot
Production Team
Digital Producer: Barry O’Sullivan Broadcast Producer: Andrew Counihan Trailer Editor: Bob Kiberd Assembly, Director: Vincent Gallagher Assembly, Producer: Rebecca Bourke Inition, Creative Director: John Henderson Inition, Director of Photography: Peter Collis Inition, Project Manager: Jay Short Inition, Producer: Moe Miah
Other Credits
Chief Executive Neal Davies Account Manager David Power Account Director Ken Kerr
Date
December 2018
Background
The RSA Shuttle interactive unit travelled around Ireland to educate the general public about the importance of road safety.
In the run-up to Christmas, they wanted to tackle the problem of drink driving among 18 - 40 year-olds.
Idea
“Consequences” was an immersive 3D 360 film experience that put users in the shoes of a drink driver. Four different storylines took Shuttle visitors through the agonising consequences of drink driving, from injury to prosecution. The experience emphasised the feelings of powerlessness and inevitability once the decision to drive after drinking had been taken. For those unfamiliar with VR gaming, the surroundings, the eye contact and the expressions of the people around them felt very real. Except they had the luxury of being able to take the headset off.
Results
So far, there have been over 100,000 views on the RSA Shuttle bus. It has also been available on Oculus Go & Google Cardboard in colleges, making it one of Ireland's most accessible high-end VR activations. “I wish I had experienced this before I lost my license”, said a recovering alcoholic at a college demo. Afterwards, he took several of the Cardboard versions to his local AA meeting. Other anecdotal evidence indicates this has been hard-hitting and effective.
Our Thoughts
Mark Ritson, who I admire a lot, is not enamoured of VR. At the back end of 2018, he wrote that “it’s looking just as unlikely as ever that hordes of consumers are about to strap on a headset.”
I’m pretty sure, though, that people are keen to try VR, even if they don’t want to shell out £500 or $600 for a headset. If a VR experience is offered, most people jump at the chance to sample the technology. In this case, it seems they got rather more than they bargained for, the experience proving to be unnervingly realistic.
If the quality of the video was good enough to shock visitors to the Shuttle bus, it has also impressed the judges at the AVA Digital Awards in Dallas, who, in late January, gave it two Platinum awards.