The LCBO, Ontario’s liquor retailer and licensing organization, has launched the third annual iteration of its “Deflate the Elephant” anti-drinking and driving campaign, an initiative that includes an interactive Facebook application as well as new television work.
The LCBO elephant debuted in 2009. The animal represents the idea that tipsy would-be drivers are the elephant in the room at social gatherings.
This year’s campaign features the “Speak Up! Pledge,” an application on the LCBO’s Deflate the Elephant Facebook page that allows users to upload a photo of themselves along with a story about how they have, or plan to, stop other people from drinking and driving.
Visitors to the page, which can also be accessed at TheLCBOPledge.com will find miniature versions of the photos surrounding a large, mosaic-style elephant graphic. As more photos are uploaded to the mosaic, the elephant will shrink in size.
Visitors can click on each small photo in the mosaic to enlarge it and read the associated stories. They can also nominate photos to appear in the final mosaic – which will be revealed Dec. 31 – by “liking” their favourites.
The Facebook work was handled by Toronto agency Dial9, the digital sister agency of Due North Communications.
“Our target is adults 24-54,” said Desmond Lo, COO of Dial9. “It’s the people who aren’t fall-down drunk and know they shouldn’t be driving, but who’ve gone out and had maybe one or two drinks too many.”
The campaign also includes a 15-second television spot depicting a man at a party who is slightly drunk and planning to drive home. When he insists on his fitness to drive, a large elephant in her hallway begins to inflate. The spot, created by Due North Communications, can be viewed at DeflateTheElephant.com.
In addition to the Facebook application and television creative, the campaign includes a Home Bartending Challenge, in which visitors to DeflateTheElephant.com can learn how to pour standard-sized drinks in order to avoid over-serving party guests.
