We needed a way for friends to express their concerns anonymously, and mobile phones were the answer. We created a campaign called the Phone Legends. It worked like this. First, a concerned friend chooses a Phone Legends character from a poster or beer coaster at the pub. He then texts (SMS) that character’s name, along with the prospective drink driver’s mobile phone number, to our automated operator. The prospective drink driver then receives voice message from that character on his mobile phone: a humorous yet timely reminder of the consequences of drink driving.

We launched the campaign in over 200 New Zealand pubs, and to date over 12,500 concerned friends have used the service so far. It has attracted national media attention and has contributed to achieving New Zealand’s lowest road toll ever (2006).