Every year, around 90 New Zealanders die in crashes while not wearing their seatbelt. 30% could have survived had they belted up. They’d have been injured, but alive. Tough, young rural males make up the majority of these fatalities. In their minds, seatbelts are for kids, the elderly or the weak; to them, it’s an unnecessary accessory. Reality is, wearing one increases their chances of surviving a crash by 40%. Protection is at arm’s reach. We had to prove to them a seatbelt is a tool worth using.

We turned the marks left behind by seatbelts into badges of honour. One that was proudly worn by the real people who survived because of it. We recruited true stories of survival from real lads within our target audience. Hundreds responded; a handful were chosen to have their real-life injuries recreated through SFX make-up, based off post-crash photos and professional medical expertise.