The Power of a Story

by R. L. Howser on March 13, 2013 · 0 comments

One of the most effective marketing campaigns in American history was a series of public service announcements produced by the group MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Driving while drunk had always been perceived by most to be a minor offense. It was a comedy staple on television and when drunk drivers were arrested, judges tended to slap offenders on the wrist.

Yet the reality was that drunk drivers were responsible for a great deal of the carnage on our national roadways. It was estimated at the time that almost half of the nearly 10,000 accident deaths on American highways every year were caused, at least in part, by alcohol.

Beginning in 1980, MADD set out to change the public, and therefore the political, perception of drunk driving; to drive home the reality of the tremendous damage, pain and loss caused by such a “minor” offense.

A lecture, even one backed by the grim facts, wasn’t going to cut it. We have a way of averting our eyes from the uncomfortable facts that cause cognitive dissonance, particularly when it is our own behavior or attitude that is being challenged. That’s why logical negative appeals tend to be so ineffective.

So MADD decided to do an end run around logic. They produced a series of commercials, deceptively simple in production, that featured a single person, captured in a basic, dramatically lit, head shot against a black background, talking about someone – their child, their husband, their mother – who had been killed by a drunk driver.

The video below features the story of 16-year old Kali O’Dell, who survived an accident that killed both of her parents. It is a later video, produced by the Canadian branch of MADD, but it follows the same basic format.

There is no ranting about accountability, deterrence or revenge, no call for political action or social change, just the story of one person’s pain, grief and loss.

Each commercial put a human face to the statistics and exposed the hypocrisy of excusing or laughing off the lethally foolish irresponsibility of getting behind the wheel of several thousand pounds of hurtling metal when drunk.

Almost immediately, public perception began to change and, in due course, the politicians fell in line and dramatically stiffened the penalties for driving while impaired.

Of course, there are still idiots who drive when they shouldn’t, but at least no one is laughing about it anymore. And the law takes it seriously enough that repeat offenders are taken off the road and, if necessary, thrown in jail. That’s a step in the right direction.

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