UPDATE!!! Thinking of Drinking and Driving? Deflate the Elephant!

Greetings...

I posted a piece on December 27th regarding the recent LCBO "Deflate the Elephant" campaign and I believe now that intent and context was not as clear as I intened. So I am posting today an apology and clarification. 

I wish to extend a full sincere and deep apology for any misunderstanding my blogpot has caused DueNorth and the LCBO. Truly, I had no intent to claim or represent any "misdoings". 

My posting had only great and kind intentions, but can be viewed as not very transparent or clear of the goals or intent of the piece which was to praise DueNorth on a brilliant campaign, and thank them for their relationship that we have built over the years to assist the development of "intelligent" and "creative" future AdLanders coming out of my program.

The posting was also to praise the hard work of my students and the level of the work done by them. As first semester students their thinking was smart and simple. The students took the strategy, established a concept using a "metaphor" that was going to start a conversation on taking the whole D&D issue back to the audience and how uncomfortable the dialog can be. I had no intention of making any claim or implying that the student work was the "foundation" or "basis" of the campaign created by or depth of the work done by DueNorth.

The DueNorth campaign is brilliant, it offers detailed "conversation starters" and very clear message on a topic that often makes the public uncomfortable, a subject so important to us all yet ignored. You can't ignore the "Elephant in the Room".

I value the relationship between the program and what DueNorth has offered the students over the years and trust that this was truly an error in the style I wrote the piece, It was written with no intent to defame or tarnish the reputation of DueNorth, or the creative talents of Dave Pigeon and Mike Jones under guidance of one of the best nurturers of young talent Karen Howe (whom I respect deeply).

I still feel this is an incredible campaign and is worthy of the exposure I intended to give it.

Please accept my apologies for ANY and ALL inconveniences this has caused and I hope that DueNorth will trust this from my heart and professional integrity.

In addition, I made an error when I pointed out that the creative team of Mike Jones and Dave Pigeon (a Seneca College Creative Advertising Grad) having won the Young Lions Cannes "Interactiv"e competition in Canada, this is an error. Mike and Dave actually won the National Advertising Competition in the "Integrated Category". The actual winners of "Interactive Category" were Lily Tse of HendersonBas and Adrian Gunadi of Taxi while the "Young Creatives" was won by Brian Quittenton of MacLaren McCann Vancouver and Seneca Creative Advertising Grad Dan Bache of Taxi Vancouver. All winners did receive the opportunity to attend the Cannes Festival.

Thinking of Drinking and Driving? Deflate the Elephant!

Recently launched by the LCBO (Liquor Licensing Board of Ontario) the message is pretty clear.

If you are thinking of drinking and driving it's like the elephant in the room... or the 500lb gorilla or you name the object you feel most uncomfortable with and we all want to ignore.

I spend most of my time trying to teach the brilliance of a great concept. This concept is as solid as it gets. Teaching the idea of understanding your audience, your client and the message that connects them is never easy.

One of the things I am most proud of bringing to my advertising program was partnerships with industry agencies and the future AdLanders in our classes. Many of these partners have brought "live" briefs to our students as case studies for "experiential" and incredibly valuable learning opportunities. 

Two years ago DueNorth Communications brought to our freshman class one of their clients, the LCBO and the Social Responsibility Campaign. The brief was to create a full integrated campaign that would address the issue that are concern all of society, "Responsible Drinking" without using the same old themes that have become immune to most of the audience. 

Its aim is to help people feel more comfortable about intervening when friends and family are at risk of driving drunk. 

Audience Insight: We need to become more involved in the responsibility of our drinking patterns, those of our friends and those who can be effected by ones drinking. "We know it's wrong to over consume and drive", but... (insert own conclusion).

Client Insight: We are the only legal retailer/distributor of wine, spirits and beer in the province of Ontario. In addition we are the agency responsible for all licensing of establishments, events and celebrations in the province. The LCBO is the root of all sales and are simple a service.

Concept: Bring the conversation back to the audience, if you see someone over consume make the conversation start itself... enter the metaphor: "It's the elephant/gorilla in the room", you know it's there, you want to ignore it, but it won't go away unless there is an intervention.

The great part of this story is the that freshman class was right on the "sweet spot". Simple, yet smart... not on the scale and depth of what DueNorth created for their client the LCBO that launched in early December with a full scale integrated advertising campaign with in-store, traditional media and ambient executions. The video below is from the campaign launch of the $1.6-million campaign that will see ads airing on TV and running in magazines until the new year. 

Obviously there is no direct connection to the simplistic idea conceived by a group of first semester students and the fully detailed integrated campaign "Deflate the Elephant" LCBO campaign, that was ultimately the original creative done by Mike Jones and Dave Pigeon of DueNorth under Creative Director Karen Howe. The campaign offers many innovative ideas such as the website that has also been launched, deflatetheelephant.com, where people can learn tips and strategies for being a responsible host. The ads a very clear and very simple... the message is not lost. I take my hat of DueNorth.
 

In addition, I must note proudly that Dave Pigeon is also Seneca College Creative Advertising Grad from 2002 long before the program had these tremendous opportunities granted to us by various agencies.

Ahhhh, the future is truly bright when opportunity are presented to young AdLanders. Proof, they are young, they are smart and can think like they belong... even as early as their first semester.

I again remain very thankful to DueNorth and the many other agencies that bring "real world" learning opportunities to these freash young AdLanders.