2012 aiga minnesota Design Show

When Minneapolis’ most recognized cabbies looked to FAME for a safe ride home campaign, we put our pedal to the metal. We started down the path of doom and gloom, but found a bottleneck of similar work. So we pulled over, reset the meter, and did a full U-turn with these fun, retro-style bus-shelter posters. Each features an animated character representing a certain level of inebriation. A hammered hammer, a trashed trashcan, and a pickled pickle just to name a few. Let’s face it—even a less-than-sober pickle can remember a phone number when it consists entirely of one digit.

Delivery of Work

Our woozy characters inundated bus shelters, billboards, and electronic boards all over the Minneapolis and St. Paul nightlife scene, where last call almost always takes priority over calling a cab. Bar patrons got a kick out of the illustrative posters because they delivered a serious message in an entertaining, non-judgmental, non-buzzkill sort of way.

The Results

Sure, we could sing our own praises. But why when the client insists on doing it for us? Blue & White owner, Waleed Sonbol, shared his thoughts on the campaign: “We would do this again in a heartbeat. We saw an increase of nearly 1,600 calls in December compared to roughly 350 in previous years. Several passengers texted us about how much they enjoyed the ads. When customers call and say things like ‘I intend to get pickled so I’ll need a ride tonight,’ you know it’s working. So not only did the FAME team help raise awareness of a serious issue, they helped raise our profits, too.” Perhaps the greatest compliment of all came from the media company itself.