Don't Drink and Drive: Office Party

1964
Sound

Quirky photo-montage film warning of the perils of drink driving.

The Xmas office party was as boozy in 1964 as any today, but it was another three years before drink drive laws were introduced. This photo montage film was shot in the producers' offices, and prominently features their head of advertising. More alarming is the final message which, while avoiding the shock tactics of later campaigns, suggests that women are to blame when men drink and drive!

Public information film on the dangers of drink driving, targeted at office parties.

A montage of still images, some collaged onto backgrounds, show the passage of an office Christmas party with men and women drinking. A male voice-over and diagrams give details of the increased risk of car accidents after drinking different quantities of alcohol. A man and a woman leave the party, but the woman stops the man driving and they hail a taxi. End slogan: Don't ask a man to drink and drive.

Animation Goes to Work

For those with an official message to get across, animation is the perfect messenger

Animation has an almost magical ability to charm and captivate. And those same qualities also make it a strikingly effective communication tool. It grabs attention, speaks to all ages, and can distil complex messages into simple and appealing visual metaphors. For government or other august bodies, cartoon antics have often been the perfect jam to sweeten the pill of official communications, whether to explain sweeping change or impart health and safety messages. And for the inventive animator, even the most utilitarian brief is no barrier to the most outlandish of treatments.