Anti-speeding campaign that changed culture by becoming part of it. In Czech Republic 9/10 drivers are speeding regularly. People are ignorant to speeding as well as years of traditional PSAs. Keystone of integrated campaign was full featured documentary 13 MINUTES that shifted conversation from speeding to cost of time. Stories of 5 culprits were so powerful the documentary aired in national television prime time creating 90 minutes commercial break. It also became first ever brand produced content in the world picked by HBO and received nomination Czech Film Critics award. All this resulted in unprecedented impact on Czech roads.

86 % of Czech drivers are speeding regularly. Problem of this deeply ingrained cultural problem responsible for 40 % fatal car accidents is that nobody wants to talk about it. Research confirmed Czechs are avoiding this taboo, diminishing the role of speeding in accidents and point other reasons. Years of PSAs falling on deaf ears resulted in nothing but more and more unnecessary deaths on the roads. CAP, the Czech Association of Insurers as a leading voice in road safety needed to radically change this situation. Create wider public debate, raise awareness about the phenomenon and change the mindset in Czech society to slow it down.

We needed to create topic more relevant to a modern society. Czech Republic in 20 years transformed from post-communist into rapidly emerging country. People need to be more dynamic and high-performing than ever before. Time is a valuable commodity and Czechs are speeding simply to catch it up. But although on the road are time and speeding closely related, in conversation it’s quite the opposite. Speeding is a taboo Czechs try to avoid while time is part of every conversation. The idea therefore was a study of time trade. Where is our time going, where we lose it and most importantly, why do we make up for it in our cars. We discovered that time people save by speeding on the longest and busiest road in country is on average only 13 minutes, while the risk of fatal accident grows exponentially. Idea was to show how worthless this trade is.

As speeding is not domain of a small group of people but large majority of population the main strategy of the campaign was to deliver the matter for thinking for the widest possible population, regardless of age or social group. We’ve had to change behavior that’s deeply ingrained in the fabric of how the Czechs drive. The perspective was therefore not focused on the tragic stories of the victims – a minority, difficult to identify with. Instead we’ve focused on people who are victims of their own mistake. The aim was to show immersive experience of what it’s like for ordinary driver to live with the label of the culprit of a tragic car accident. A risk that Czech drivers recklessly take every day when trying to make up for the lost time in car. Message of this magnitude cannot be delivered by 30s commercial but much bigger tool.

Main tool and center of campaign was high production value full featured documentary called 13 MINUTES. Filmed by renowned director Vít Klusák it meticulously recreated 5 speeding accidents through stories of 5 ordinary drivers who in trying save less than 13 minutes on the road became culprits for the rest of their life. Integrated campaign had its prelude in publicity stunt week before premiere showing accident of two speeding cars hitting a stroller. Video gone viral and reached the whole country from TV news, news portals and social networks through influencers. Together with following reveal it created soil for documentary by estabilishing intended discussion but also confirmed that Czechs tend to excuse speeding at the expense of other accident reasons. Premiere was promoted by massive TV and radio campaign, series of unique movie posters crafted by famous art studio Atomobilist and followed by series of roadshow events and school seminaries.

13 MINUTES became cultural phenomenon inspiring songs and even a book. Unique campaign reached 44 % of population. Documentary was seen by millions of viewers and more will follow as other European and Asian countries already bought rights for broadcasting. After the start of the campaign in May, according to research 28 % of drivers immediately slowed down and the number of accidents from speeding dropped by 20% saving number of human lives. Despite a significant year-on-year increase in all accident categories speeding keeps down by 9 % up until April 2022. The campaign continues not only in HBO Max streaming service and social media but also directly on the driving frontline as documentary was chosen by Driving school association of Czech Republic as intended official studying material to grow generation of more conscious drivers.