The 2014 Fifa World Cup had one major talking point – it was the first time referees used spray to indicate the distance between defenders and the ball during free kicks. A huge rule change for a major tournament, it created lots of debate in pubs across the country. Rather than using shock tactics, we leveraged something fans were already talking about and delivered our message in a topical, immediate way. You’ll never stop young men drinking. But you can stop them from getting behind the wheel in the first place. Shock tactics have been proved to have little effect, especially on the ‘it’ll never happen to me’ target audience. Our different approach meant every game featuring free kick spray prompted our ‘Don’t cross the line. Don’t drink and drive’ message, as fans recalled our stunt to their mates.

Our solution targeted men at the exact moment when they were most vulnerable to commit the crime of drink driving. We leveraged a huge talking point that World Cup football matches were creating ie. The first ever use of free kick spray, and capitalised on the very moment men were drinking and discussing the very thing that our communication utilised to get its message across.

While exact results are difficult to obtain, if the message of this campaign stopped just one person drink driving, then it will have been a resounding success.

According to statistics drink driving increases during sporting events. During the world cup, 63,688 tests were administered, of which 4,108 (6.5%) were failed, tested positive or refused.

This is a numerical decrease from 5,170 failed tests the year before during the same period, where no sporting event took place.