Following an increase in the penalties for using your phone whilst driving in March, Think! have launched their latest campaign. The hero film ‘Pink Kittens’ features 100 pink kittens, and aims to educate young drivers on how much you miss when you glance at your mobile. Launching today, it will run online, in cinemas and on social media.
More than a third of young drivers aged between 17 and 24 admitted to using their phone and when driving (RAC, 2016). The campaign’s ambition is to highlight just how much you can miss when you use a mobile phone while driving, and establishes that if a driver looks down for 2.3 seconds at 30m/h (48kkm/h) they miss 100ft (30m) of road.
‘Pink Kittens’ challenges viewers to see if they can spot the pink kitten, when taken through the 100 foot scene in real time. It’s only when the film is played back in super slow motion that the audience begins to discover how many pink kittens they’ve missed.
As the action unfolds, the viewer realises that there is really only one pink kitten that truly matters. The one held by a young child crossing the road with her mother in front of the offending driver.
It is a surprisingly colourful approach to a subject that normally leads to sombre and shocking work. The use of pink kittens cleverly nods to the frivolous social media messages people check on their phones on a daily basis and is weaved together by a mesmerising, slowed down version of Aphex Twin’s iconic Windowlicker; the first time the track has been approved for advertising use.
Yet it still delivers an important message in understanding the massive consequence that a quick glance at your phone could have.
‘We Are From LA’, the directing duo responsible for internet viral smashes such as ‘Happy’ by Pharrell and Evian’s ‘Babies’, helped to bring the film to life via Iconoclast London. There is a definite music promo feel to ‘Pink Kittens’ - using bright and hyper-realistic characters in a slow-motion world.
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