Diageo lets you 'video chat' with drink drivers on the wrong side of the road

Diageo has launched an interactive anti-drink driving campaign which allows users to "video chat" with drink drivers in an Q&A format. Titled Wrong Side of the Road, the global campaign was launched in partnership with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and aims to educate the public on the consequences of drink driving. The campaign kicked off in the UK in May 2021 and has since rolled out across over 20 markets, with Singapore being the second Southeast Asia market to launch the campaign after Thailand. 

"Wrong Side of the Road" is a microsite where users can select their desired market and, after a simple three-question quiz, can "chat" with three different drink drivers who will share their real-life experiences. As each story unfolds, users are prompted to ask increasingly honest questions that will resonate with all drivers such as “Did you feel pressured to drive?”, “What was going through your head?” and “How did your family react?”. At the end of the "chat", users will be shown a summary of their learnings and directed towards other online resources that can offer additional advice and support. 

Through the campaign, Diageo hopes that users will understand the effects of alcohol, and the shame and stigma that comes with drink driving. Gabriel Opoku-Assare, Diageo’s corporate relations director for SEA, said that it is committed to changing attitudes towards drink driving and to show through its industry leading programmes that there is always a better option when it comes to drink driving. "We want to expose drivers to real-life situations and share compelling stories around drink driving that may save their lives, their loved ones, and even innocent bystanders. We want to empower them to make a conscious choice,” he added.

As part of its campaign launch in Singapore, Diageo will also partner with SGAG and its cast of stand-up comedians and digital content creators to deliver the important message of responsible drinking to youth through impactful humour, which will run later this month. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Diageo for more details.

The campaign comes in light of statistics from the Ministry of Home Affairs Singapore, which shows that over 1,000 people were caught by the traffic police for drink driving in the first nine months of 2021, about the same number in the same period last year. At the same time, 117 people were injured in drink-driving accidents from January to September 2021, an increase from 103 over the same period last year. On average, one person is killed every month due to an accident related to drink driving.

Diageo said in a statement that it has a long-standing commitment to promote positive drinking through its 10-year sustainability action plan, Society 2030: Spirit of Progress. As part of this commitment, Diageo aims to change the attitudes towards drink driving of five million drivers across the world by 2030, through Wrong Side of the Road. The campaign also builds on DRINKiQ, Diageo’s dedicated responsible drinking platform, which has already reached out to hundreds of thousands of users across SEA in partnership with companies such as Grab, Diageo said. It has also pioneered programmes such as Smashed, a learning resource for teachers and facilitators to educate young people on the dangers of underage drinking, which is live in Indonesia, Cambodia, and the Philippines.

Separately, Stuart La Brooy left his role as Diageo's senior marketing director, strategic partnerships Asia earlier in April.  At Diageo, La Brooy led Diageo's brand portfolio strategy (including Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Tanqueray, and Singleton) across more than nine partnerships and 10 markets across Asia. He has since taken on the new role of VP of Sephora, Southeast Asia and Oceania, excluding Greater China, leading marketing, customer satisfaction, and loyalty. 

Meanwhile, Diageo named Wilson Del Socorro as its corporate relations director for APAC in March. He will also be part of the APAC leadership team led by Sam Fischer, president for APAC and global travel, and will report to Dan Mobley, global corporate relations director, Diageo. Socorro was formerly the global director of government affairs, based in London. In his new role, Socorro is based in Singapore and is working with the regional and market teams to lead Diageo’s corporate relations agenda covering public policy and government affairs, communications, and its responsibility and sustainability efforts. Paul Kelleher previously helmed the role. 

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