DON’T TEXT & DRIVE
BRIEF
According to the World Health Organisation, Namibia is ranked first in the world in terms of the number of road deaths per 100,000 residents. To drive awareness of one of the leading causes of road accidents, texting and driving, we were tasked with creating a campaign for MTC - Namibia’s largest telecommunications provider.
SOLUTION
Our idea was to show Death having the final say... In a text message. In this age of stock photography, we decided to instead use a linocut - a traditional and popular form of storytelling in Namibia – which was created by a well-respected local artist, Petrus Amuthenu.
The image stood out from the clutter and spoke to Namibians on a cultural level. Namibia is predominantly a Christian country, however most tribes still believe in communicating with the ancestors. This insight informed both the use of the linocut and the dramatic imagery within the artwork.
The target market is literally all phone owners who drive. To get the message to the masses, we ran with traditional media in the form of posters and print ads. The campaign started its run over the 2018 festive period, which is when road accidents traditionally hit their peak, with the posters staying up throughout 2019 to keep the message top-of-mind. The linocut was a one-of-a-kind piece, only 1/1 was printed.