Délégation à la sécurité routière: On the road, never forget what really matters
Délégation à la Sécurité Routière, or French Road Safety, was looking for a new approach to raise awareness on the risks we take every day on the road, especially during the holiday seasons. After a gloomy year and as French citizens started to recover greater freedom of movement, it was the right time to try something fresh and new, which may be less dramatic and dark than usual. The Road Safety campaign had to target all drivers and make everyone feel concerned, which is the main challenge for these campaigns. People never perceive themselves as risk-takers. But we all, at some point, make mistakes.
Many road safety communications use feelings of fear and guilt to change people’s behaviours on the road, showing the worst that can happen. They wanted to try the opposite approach: an entirely positive celebration of life. The strategy was to compare people’s deepest desires to all the immediate temptations on the road, like answering a phone call or running a stop sign. Then, they looked for the most relatable execution. They didn’t want to show over-the-top unforgettable moments, but rather the simple, ordinary, cheerful slices of life, like a guy singing in his bath, a couple making love, a father and his child and a family playing a game. All these small moments make life worth living.
Challenges: The first challenge was to find suitable scenes. They wrote dozens of moments before choosing the right ones. It couldn’t feel scripted; it had to be very simple, almost nothing, yet something nice to watch. The second challenge was more of a direct one: make all these little stories sound true to life. They had to capture the perfect choreography, light and acting in one single take. Director Arnaud Desplechin did a great job, and his long experience in cinema certainly helped.
Credits
Client: Délégation à la sécurité routière
Website: https://www.securite-routiere.gouv.fr/
Category: Road Safety campaign
Client Management: Marie Gautier-Melleray
Agency: DDB Paris
Executive Creative Director: Alexander Kalchev
Creative Directors: Alexis Benbehe & Pierre Mathonat
Copywriter: Benoît Oulhen
Art Director: Mickael Jacquemin
Agency Producers: Corinne Persch & Gaëlle De Pompignan
Account Management: Vincent Léorat, Andéole Vu Dinh Ba & Romane Philippe
Planners: Sébastien Genty & Déborah Tapia
Production Company: Phantasm
Director: Arnaud Desplechin
Producer: Gary Farkas
Post Production: Mikros & MPC
Sound Production: Maul Productions & Studio5
Music: Véronique Sanson, Chanson sur ma drôle de vie
