SA Health says ‘keep your hands off our ambos’ in new viral campaign via Showpony Advertising
Showpony Advertising’s latest campaign for SA Health pulls no punches when it comes to raising awareness of the violence that ambulance officers suffer in the line of duty.
Says Greg Kavanagh, Showpony group account director: “Ambulance officers face high risk, especially as they are often the first responders to incidents involving violence, drugs and alcohol. In the last 3 years, there has been a 75% increase in challenging behaviours exhibited towards ambos.”
Says Parris Mesidis, creative director, Showpony: “It defies belief that the people trying to save our lives are themselves often the victims. We spent a night on duty with the ambos and experienced it first-hand. They are spat on, yelled at, threatened with violence and even suffer sexual assaults while trying to save lives. We were shocked to the core.
“Our objective was to raise awareness of the problem, particularly among young men who are most likely to be the perpetrators. We also wanted to create advocates for the better treatment of our ambos. Our creative strategy was simply to share the reality of what our ambos face.
“We used ‘reality advertising’ to tell the story. We set-up the scenario, used real ambulance officers and then let the unscripted scene play out. To use the visual vernacular of our target audience, we filmed it vertically on an iPhone and the result is uncomfortable but truthful viewing.”
The campaign has gone viral, with unpaid, organic reach on Facebook exceeding 1 million impressions and 300,000 Facebook video views in 21 hours.
Intensive care paramedic Jordan Pring appears in the video.
Says Pring: “This is something that happens, I think it’s safe to say, on a weekly basis to ambos. Personally I have violence and aggression come towards me on a regular basis. I’m really excited to be part of a campaign that highlights the fact that violence and aggression towards paramedics is unacceptable.”
Says Jack Snelling, South Australian Health Minister: “This new campaign emphasises that every interruption an ambo has to deal with prevents them from helping save someone’s life and that life might be yours.”
Says Kavanagh: “It takes a brave client to approve a strategy and concept as innovative as this. The teams at SA Health and the SA Ambulance Service are to be commended for their vision and commitment to the cause.”