Pinkie ("Speeding. No One Thinks Big of You.")
Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales2007
Pinkie ("Speeding. No One Thinks Big of You.") is a 2007 60-second television and cinema commercial (with outdoor and online executions) for Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales, created by Clemenger BBDO, Sydney.
The line
Speeding. No one thinks big of you.
Why it works
Young men show off behind the wheel, and everyone they hope to impress, from young women by the road to an elderly woman and the mates riding with them, answers with the same gesture: a wiggled little finger, youth-culture shorthand for a small penis. The Roads and Traffic Authority believed blood-and-twisted-metal ads no longer frightened young drivers raised on violent films and video games, so Clemenger BBDO Sydney attacked the reason they speed instead, making it look unmanly rather than dangerous. It is studied as a switch from fear to social ridicule. Launched in June 2007, it drew complaints of sexism, which the advertising regulator dismissed, and the roads minister said young people were using the gesture to slow their mates down. In RTA tracking, 81% of young men said it was undermining the perceived benefits of speeding; the RTA noted that speed-related deaths of 17-to-24-year-olds fell from 75 in 2006 to 40 in 2007. It won the Grand Effie at Australia's first Effie Awards.
Techniques
- Humour Onlookers mock showing-off young drivers with a wiggled little finger, swapping crash footage for ridicule that makes speeding look unmanly.
- Shock and provocation The crude small-penis gesture is deliberately provocative and draws complaints of sexism, which the advertising regulator dismisses.
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