Education on the dangers of drunk driving is now universal thanks to the efforts of many. People know the consequences of excess and although they continue to enjoy alcohol, it’s generally nobody’s intention to cause harm while consuming. The thing is, it’s hard to tell when you’ve had too much, and even then it can be inconvenient to find a ride unless you’re in taxi-saturated Manhattan. And so the tragedies continue to unfold.
Enter Uber Safe, a new initiative from Uber at the intersection of profits and purpose. Uber Safe is a breathalyzer kiosk that makes it clear when alcohol levels are too high and makes it easy to find a ride no matter where you are. It’s a smart and simple way to grow business while saving lives and building meaningful community rapport in a time of public relations troubles.
Uber launched Uber Safe in Montreal and Toronto back in April 2015 with the help of a short film that explains how the system works to save lives. The film was produced in a cool, upbeat way that relates to young adults having a good time and makes being safe and avoiding drinking and driving feel almost as fun as partying itself.
Uber’s film resulted in a Bronze Lion at last month’s Cannes Lions International Festival, the world’s biggest annual awards show for the creative communications industry.
In addition to solid video production, Uber used a tiered approach to distribute its films — another smart move. The first film was published to YouTube alongside a brief news release and Facebook post that helped land it in media outlets like The Huffington Post, USA Today, and Engadget, wracking up nearly 120,000 views in the process.
Uber waited a few months, then published a second film and blog post about the initiative in June. The second video hasn’t drawn nearly as many views (1,231 at time of publishing). Granted, the story is older at this point, so the second film always had an uphill battle to get media pickup. However, Uber would have been smart to create a second film that somehow moved the story forward and told it though a different lens, perhaps through a testimonial of someone who actually had used Uber Safe and been affected by the service, thus creating more novelty for the audience.
Nonetheless, Uber Safe is an instructive example of how short film can help fuel an initiative at the intersection of profits and purpose.