I have a problem with my goggomobil…

During my childhood, pausing and fast-forwarding live TV were luxuries I knew nothing about; ads were simply part of the TV viewing experience. The 80’s were a bonanza for memorable campaigns… we could all spell Goggomobil, we knew the jingle from ‘Life. Be in it’ (although I’m still questioning t-shirt printing as an ‘exercise’).  My dad picked the fruit, Mrs Marsh used chalk and blue liquid and Rex could sic ‘em.  I’m not sure if Peter Russell Clarke ever found the cheese or if Pro Hart gave his cleaning lady a bonus; but these were memorable and enduring campaigns.

I knew tag-lines and jingles more than I knew my times tables, and made sure I ‘slip, slop, slapped’ mainly because it told me to during each episode of Alf, Double Dare or Full House.  The ‘Slip, Slop, Slap’ slogan is widely credited as shifting attitudes and behaviours towards sun protection and, through its advertising, became part of the Australian psyche and beyond.

Behaviour change is a complex subject, as each audience and challenge is different, requiring a range of approaches. So while inspiring fear is not always an effective educational tool, ask anyone over the age of 30 about the Grim Reaper campaign. The 1987 AIDS awareness campaign, featuring the Grim Reaper bowling over families like tenpins, did more than anything else to educate Australians that AIDS was not a disease confined to sub-cultures and that it could strike down anyone who wasn’t careful. The ad did unfairly stigmatize homosexual men and people living with HIV, and overstated the threat of the virus to heterosexual people, but it certainly de-stigmatised conversations between couples about using condoms. It became a no-brainer and surprisingly the ad only ran for 3 weeks.

So fast forward to today – I wonder where the impact has gone? Are there less public health campaigns that aim to change behaviour? Or are they not being noticed because we are watching less commercial TV?  Is the fact that campaigns now aim to reach the multi-channel, multi-device and time poor audiences across a number of different platforms diluting the impact that we saw (and remember) in the 80’s? Regardless, we wanted to share some campaigns that might not have captured your attention but from an impact perspective, struck a chord within the BrandHook office:

1. Western Sydney University: The tear-jerking refugee story of former child soldier Deng Adut was one of the most powerful campaigns of 2015; winning a Silver Lion in the Film category at Cannes this year. View
2. CARE International: This film went viral, highlighting how casual sexist remarks and name-calling contributes to the culture of violence against women, plus urges men to address disrespectful behaviour in their children and peers. View

To our recollection, neither of these were seen on Free-to-Air television and in our estimation both of these will have moved you more than ‘Life. Be in it’ Norm ever could. Are they Grim Reaper worthy? Well that’s something too hard to answer as public health campaigns from past and future compete in a different arena.  But, from a behavioural change perspective, what have they got you thinking about – and doing?

Written by Sarah