Provincial not-for-profit organization Injury Free Nova Scotia has launched a cinema and online campaign to warn youth against the dangers of excessive drinking.
The “No Magic Goat” campaign features a two-minute house party scene. Set to thumping electronic music, the video depicts teens drinking, dancing and making out with each other, but also vomiting and capturing each other’s vulnerable moments on mobile phone cameras.
Interspersed with the party footage are several interview-style breaks with individual teens who talk about their misadventures and how a “magic goat” saved them from their mistakes.
The spot ends with a young man injured in the living room as fellow partygoers search for the magic goat. Text appears on the screen reading, “There is no magic goat. Drinking hurts.”
Created by Halifax agency Trampoline Branding, the video began appearing in movie theatres in the Halifax and Sydney, N.S. areas on May 27. It can also be viewed on YouTube and on the Injury Free Nova Scotia microsite NoMagicGoat.ca.
Shirley Ann Rogers, executive director of Injury Free Nova Scotia, said reckless drinking was a logical topic for her organization to address given the role alcohol plays in various kinds of accidents.
Rogers added that the absurdity of the goat character resonated with youth focus groups who weighed in on the spot before it launched.
“The creative elements were designed to be random, so [teens] would need to watch more than once to figure out what on earth is being talked about,” said Rogers. “I didn’t get it at first. But the youth got it.”
Brad Dykema, creative director at Trampoline, said the realism of the party paved the way for the spot’s serious message.
“We intentionally made the party something that teens would want to be at, partly for the attention-getting factor it would have,” said Dykema. “We weren’t too worried about the sexiness of the party overwhelming the message.”
Rogers said 30- and 60-second cuts of the spot will air on television in the near future. The full video will reach additional Nova Scotia cinemas in the fall.
