Post by Automaton on Feb 5, 2024 23:36:25 GMT
For approximately one month in July/August 1996, New Zealand's Land Transport Safety Authority (LTSA) ran a series of 9 drunk driving PSAs which followed an episodic story. Each minute-long ad counted down to the wedding of Danny and Tessa, the central couple, who were due to be married on August 24. Predictably, this ended in tragedy, with Danny and his friend dying in a crash the week of the wedding.
The first ~6 ads contained no branding and would end in a title card reading "More later", although from part 7 onwards the "Country People Die on Country Roads" slogan is featured.
Short synopses of each episode are available on the NZ audiovisual archive Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, but PSA uploader rocketraccoon19 has compiled them in order on PSA Database. I've also pasted them at the bottom of this post.
psadatabase.wikitide.org/wiki/Country_Story_(1996)
They were directed by Peter Cudlipp for Saatchi & Saatchi Wellington, although rocketracoon19 told me he's previously reached out to Peter who did not recall the campaign. Ngā Taonga has additional credits, including the actors for Danny (Chris Hobbs), Matthew (John Paekau), and the narrator (Len Potts).
Extensive discussion from the final week of the campaign can be found in this Google Groups thread starting August 17, which features speculation about the ongoing story. It seems like these ads had been completely unbranded up until the crash in the 7th episode (which is also the first appearance of the "Country People Die on Country Roads" title card). Until this point, some users speculate whether the ads were going to turn out to be for a product/service like beer or insurance, although some correctly guessed it would be a PSA series and others reached out to media contacts who confirmed this in advance.
Piecing together an exact timeline of when these ads aired is quite tricky, but they seem to have put out a new episode weekly until the final week, when the campaign intensified and the crash/reveal happened. As of August 21, "Set Up", the 6th episode, was still being described as the most recent ad to have been airing, although it sounds like part 7 premiered later that same day. It's unclear from the rest of the thread when the remaining two ads appeared, but it's not unreasonable to assume they continued to be released until August 24.
There's a few other Google Groups threads from 1996 which discuss the ads (1, 2, 3), but they're less useful and mostly consist of people arguing or joking around. Definitely seems like there was a mixed reception to the campaign, although given the format it's unlikely to have been re-aired anyway.
I also found a Reddit comment which says the campaign won an award, but as of right now I haven't been able to source that claim.
Synopses:
The first ~6 ads contained no branding and would end in a title card reading "More later", although from part 7 onwards the "Country People Die on Country Roads" slogan is featured.
Short synopses of each episode are available on the NZ audiovisual archive Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, but PSA uploader rocketraccoon19 has compiled them in order on PSA Database. I've also pasted them at the bottom of this post.
psadatabase.wikitide.org/wiki/Country_Story_(1996)
They were directed by Peter Cudlipp for Saatchi & Saatchi Wellington, although rocketracoon19 told me he's previously reached out to Peter who did not recall the campaign. Ngā Taonga has additional credits, including the actors for Danny (Chris Hobbs), Matthew (John Paekau), and the narrator (Len Potts).
Extensive discussion from the final week of the campaign can be found in this Google Groups thread starting August 17, which features speculation about the ongoing story. It seems like these ads had been completely unbranded up until the crash in the 7th episode (which is also the first appearance of the "Country People Die on Country Roads" title card). Until this point, some users speculate whether the ads were going to turn out to be for a product/service like beer or insurance, although some correctly guessed it would be a PSA series and others reached out to media contacts who confirmed this in advance.
Piecing together an exact timeline of when these ads aired is quite tricky, but they seem to have put out a new episode weekly until the final week, when the campaign intensified and the crash/reveal happened. As of August 21, "Set Up", the 6th episode, was still being described as the most recent ad to have been airing, although it sounds like part 7 premiered later that same day. It's unclear from the rest of the thread when the remaining two ads appeared, but it's not unreasonable to assume they continued to be released until August 24.
There's a few other Google Groups threads from 1996 which discuss the ads (1, 2, 3), but they're less useful and mostly consist of people arguing or joking around. Definitely seems like there was a mixed reception to the campaign, although given the format it's unlikely to have been re-aired anyway.
I also found a Reddit comment which says the campaign won an award, but as of right now I haven't been able to source that claim.
Synopses:
The Beginning:
Title: On August 24, Danny will marry Tessa
The Carter family are having breakfast, their Hawke’s Bay farm has been in the family for 80 years, Danny’s next, he and Tessa will bring another generation..... Title: More later
Meeting Matthew:
Title: In four weeks, Danny will marry Tessa
As they always do Danny & Pete call into the pub for a drink on the way home from footy training. They meet up with Mathew, he’s just back from Palmerston North A&P Show, like always they enjoy a joke...
Title: More later
The Lucky Sons:
Title: In three weeks, Danny will marry Tessa
Brothers Danny and Pete, out on the farm fencing and enjoying a good joke together. In three weeks Pete will be Danny’s best man.
Title: More later
Footy Training:
Title: In two weeks, Danny will marry Tessa
At footy training the coach announces there’ll be a few drinks tonight on account of Danny & Tessa. A few speeches at the pub, another joke from Matthew. Title: More later
Union Man/Muffins:
Title: Next week, Danny will marry Tessa
The family gather on the veranda and enjoy Tessa’s muffins, Dad tells a joke about his visit from the Farm Labourers Union man.
Title: More later
Set Up:
Title: This week, Danny will marry Tessa
Back at The Owl Hotel, another joke from Matthew, one more and we’re off.
Title: More later
Pack Shot:
Title: Danny will marry Tessa this week
Back at the Owl Hotel, barman receives a call from Danny’s father wondering where the boys are, he’s assured they left. Dad goes to look for the boys, finds the wrecked ute.
Title: Country people die on country roads.
The End:
Title: The End
Both Matthew and Danny died that night and Pete will never walk again after the accident. Tessa is moving up North to have Danny’s baby and live with her aunt.
The Absolute End:
Title: The Absolute End
A recap on the sad story and the tragic conclusion to the series. With Tessa moving up north to live with her aunty in Piha, the farm has been put on the market.
Country people die on country roads. The end.
Title: On August 24, Danny will marry Tessa
The Carter family are having breakfast, their Hawke’s Bay farm has been in the family for 80 years, Danny’s next, he and Tessa will bring another generation..... Title: More later
Meeting Matthew:
Title: In four weeks, Danny will marry Tessa
As they always do Danny & Pete call into the pub for a drink on the way home from footy training. They meet up with Mathew, he’s just back from Palmerston North A&P Show, like always they enjoy a joke...
Title: More later
The Lucky Sons:
Title: In three weeks, Danny will marry Tessa
Brothers Danny and Pete, out on the farm fencing and enjoying a good joke together. In three weeks Pete will be Danny’s best man.
Title: More later
Footy Training:
Title: In two weeks, Danny will marry Tessa
At footy training the coach announces there’ll be a few drinks tonight on account of Danny & Tessa. A few speeches at the pub, another joke from Matthew. Title: More later
Union Man/Muffins:
Title: Next week, Danny will marry Tessa
The family gather on the veranda and enjoy Tessa’s muffins, Dad tells a joke about his visit from the Farm Labourers Union man.
Title: More later
Set Up:
Title: This week, Danny will marry Tessa
Back at The Owl Hotel, another joke from Matthew, one more and we’re off.
Title: More later
Pack Shot:
Title: Danny will marry Tessa this week
Back at the Owl Hotel, barman receives a call from Danny’s father wondering where the boys are, he’s assured they left. Dad goes to look for the boys, finds the wrecked ute.
Title: Country people die on country roads.
The End:
Title: The End
Both Matthew and Danny died that night and Pete will never walk again after the accident. Tessa is moving up North to have Danny’s baby and live with her aunt.
The Absolute End:
Title: The Absolute End
A recap on the sad story and the tragic conclusion to the series. With Tessa moving up north to live with her aunty in Piha, the farm has been put on the market.
Country people die on country roads. The end.
