Rapping road safety! A ‘Krazy’ first targeting young drivers – Australia
A brand new campaign from the Motor Accident Commission (MAC Australia) recently launched a clever two part video campaign that tells the story of ‘Krazy K’, a wannabe rapper from Adelaide, Australia who loses his license after being caught for speeding. His rap shows his attempts at making light of the situation, which has actually had a massive impact on his life; losing friends, his job, his girlfriend and his freedom. Check out this comedic and tongue-in-cheek video.
Our friends at MAC Australia, one of the leaders of innovative road safety campaigns, recently shared their new campaign with us, ‘Krazy K’ in two clever and comedic videos explaining what happened to Krazy K, in his own words, after losing his license to speeding.
MAC has entered new ground releasing the first rap music track of its kind specifically targeting young drivers. Rap meets road safety in a tongue-in-cheek track titled ‘Lights-Out’, starring a local rapper known on the media streets as Krazy-K, alongside his less eccentric side-kick DJ Got-Bangers. Claiming to be the leader of the Adelaide ‘Wolf Pac’, the over-sized, boxer shorts wearing loser from Paradise, raps about forfeiting his licence for six months after being caught speeding.
Passionately delivered with rap lyrics, rhythmic music and a heavy dose of false bravado, Krazy-K claims that he ‘doesn’t need a girl, doesn’t need job and doesn’t need to drive’. However, losing his licence affects his social life, leads to the loss of his job, his mates, and even his girlfriend. Having lost his licence Krazy is house bound and reliant on daily chores, such as grocery shopping, washing and gardening to earn ‘some cash’.
The campaign follows the first phase headlined ‘lose your licence and you’re screwed’.
MAC Chief Executive Officer, Jerome Maguire, said, more than 3,900 South Australian drivers aged 16-24 years have lost their licence this year to date.
“We want young people to enjoy the freedom and mobility that comes with holding a licence, but they jeopardise this if they don’t respect their licence privileges. The campaign leverages an insight that young drivers are motivated by their growing independence and social status and that their licence delivers both practical and symbolic value”.
We need young people to think about the consequences of driving dangerously and the impact on their new found freedom, independence and status if they end up losing their licence.
In a two part story as well as a multimedia campaign, Krazy K’s life after losing his license shows the real consquences in a comedic way.
“Amazingly, young people fear ‘social death’ more than death itself,” Mr Maguire said
On average, over the last five years, drivers aged 16-24 years accounted for approximately 27% of Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance claim costs – costing the fund over $100 million annually. People aged 16 to 24 years make up 12% of the population, but account for 26% of all fatalities and serious injuries in South Australia. SA’s fatality rate for 16-19 year olds is almost double that of Victoria and New South Wales.
MAC’s campaign approach has been endorsed by Professor Mary Lydon, Director at the Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR) at the University of Adelaide.
“This approach may inspire more young adults to encourage their peers and friends to make responsible decisions when taking to the roads,” Professor Lydon said.
“Research suggests that social threats, as opposed to physical threats such as injury or death, a more effective among young people.
Likewise, recent evidence suggests positive approaches that evoke humour are highly effective and persuasive in social marketing campaigns. CASR is pleased to see an initiative that speaks to young people when they are at greatest risk and most vulnerable to road trauma,” Professor Lydon said.
Check out the videos in the right column!
Manpreet Darroch, Communications Officer at YOURS said, “This campaign is innovative, fresh and funny. A lot of campaigns focus on the consquence of road crashes in a ‘bloody’ fashion but this campaign shows Krazy K’s attempts at justifying his actions and his new found freedom, where in reality, the consquence of losing his license is very big. A clever and funny campaign’.
