As one of the UK’s leading insurers, Direct Line has been a long-time campaigner for drink driving awareness and prevention. Our mission was to highlight the brand’s commitment to make the UK’s roads safer for everyone, by deterring drivers from taking the roads while under the influence of alcohol.

The brief was to develop a creative earned-first idea that would approach this conversation in a new and impactful way to strengthen Direct Line’s voice.

In 2021, 48% of all drink driving convictions took place between 8pm and 3am. A deep analyze of the other 52% revealed a worrying trend : morning drink driving is on the rise - with the number of motorists failing breathalyser tests in the morning increasing by 8% year on year. An issue no one is talking about.

We hacked the morning’s most essential item, the toothbrush, to create the Brushalyser, the world’s first breathalyser toothbrush. Before brushing, users simply blow into the breathalyser on the back of the fully working prototype; the light flashes red and vibrates if over the limit, and glows green if it’s safe to drive.

The Brushalyser aimed to drive behaviour change by getting people to think twice before driving on a morning hangover, embedding this seamlessly into people’s morning routines.

We focused on insights from our commissioned research that represented the nation, with age and regional statistics for tailored angles and depth of narrative, including:

· 25 per cent of adults admitted to driving the morning after a night out, despite still feeling under the influence of alcohol

· 29 per cent of 18–34-year-olds believed if they didn’t feel drunk in the morning, they were fine to drive · 27 per cent of people in Cardiff admitted to driving while still feeling the effects of alcohol

Alongside the Brushalyser, we created ‘Rise Responsibility’, a call to action encouraging people be as responsible in the morning as they would be in the evening. This became our key message.

We also captured product and lifestyle photography, and a technical animation of the toothbrush to also distribute to media.

We produced the Brushalyser in partnership with a rising new product development company, Simple Design Works, founded by a design engineer. The mechanism inside is simple: after testing different breathalysers based on size, design and efficiency, we selected the perfect one, took it apart and fitted it inside a bespoke 3D printed toothbrush handle.

Then, we ran a full-scale media outreach programme across print, online and broadcast media, tailoring pitches for health, lifestyle, news, and picture desks. We captured product and lifestyle photography, and a technical animation of the toothbrush to distribute to media.

With Christmas being one of the biggest spikes for drink driving convictions, we launched in October to encourage behaviour change in advance.

We produced the Brushalyser in partnership with a rising new product development company, Simple Design Works, founded by a design engineer. The mechanism inside is simple: after testing different breathalysers based on size, design and efficiency, we selected the perfect one, took it apart and fitted it inside a bespoke 3D printed toothbrush handle.

Then, we ran a full-scale media outreach programme across print, online and broadcast media, tailoring pitches for health, lifestyle, news, and picture desks. We captured product and lifestyle photography, and a technical animation of the toothbrush to distribute to media.

With Christmas being one of the biggest spikes for drink driving convictions, we launched in October to encourage behaviour change in advance.