Thursday, November 11, 2010

'Mantrol'

Hunting, cricket and controlling the barbecue are all part of being a manly man – and so is driving slowly.

A new advertising campaign by the New Zealand Transport Agency is hoping to convince young men who like to drive fast that slowing down is part of being a man in control.

The ad, which screens for the first time tonight after a series of "teasers" that have been playing since Sunday, encourages men to exercise "mantrol" by driving to the road and weather conditions.


Were the creators of the new 'mantrol' TV ads designed to make young men slow down when driving aware that 'mantrol' is a sexual performance enhancer?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Motor vehicles and speed are all about male bonding and rites of passage. Advertising wont change that.
The speedo in my truck stops at 160 mph. While it seldom goes past 50, at sixty years of age I do like to blow the socks off drivers who cant keep it in their pants. Take the shine off their day so to speak.

Dirk

timf said...

Not necessarily a bad thing: drawing a parallel between driving within your limits and having better sexual performance! It may well be intentional (kudos to the writers if it was)

Seriously though, I love the ads: they're better than shock-advertising any day. I reckon they stand a good chance of going viral on the net, ala Old Spice guy, but this time, with a better message thankfully.

James said...

If this goes ahead then expect more accidents.Driving at lower speeds causes inattention leading to accidents.A faster speed,within reason,actually focuses the drivers attention as the risk and fear factor is heightened.

Bearderd said...

I think it's a great idea.

As Dirk said, Motor Vehicles and speed all are all about male bonding and rites of passage - what better way to see yourself as a man than to act under 'mantrol'. personally, the term is so simple to remember but has such a powerful connotation that I think it will definitely make an impact upon my own driving.

What would truly be a great idea is for an insurance company to cotton on to the term, and to do something like the following:

make membership exclusive:only a certain age group (18 to 30 or whatever) you are under 'observation' for a month, where your driving habits are monitored. if you pass, you are allowed to become a member.

member privileges should include all the standards, but with extras such as:

discounts at entry into race venues/tracks or 4X4 venues.

for people who have been members for more than a given time frame, offer the chance to take a classic/ supercar out for a sunday.

create a members only magazine all about cars.

membership gets you free advanced driving workshops and car maintenance/modification work shops.

etc.. .

also, as a member, your car is 'inspected' once a month. it has to be kept in good condition, evoke a pride in the car itself, not just what it can do.

also have a deduction program, where you can be removed from the membership if your driving behaviour (observable through fines, reports whatever) drops it's standard.

these ideas are all rather rushed and all over the place, but hopefully someone can do something with them. I'm more than capable of putting these ideas into a more concise and readable format, so get in touch if anyone would like to venture into that area...

Anonymous said...

Slow down and know when to pull out and you might not need mantrol(tm) too much of a coincidence to be put down to chance?

And yet the mass media have not picked up on it! Guess they just take the puffery sent in by merchandisers and reprint without thought.