A wagging finger
when you need it most
Happy hour patrons find paper hands attached to their wipers
By Toni Fitzgerald
Nov 18, 2011
People who park their cars on the street are used to finding brightly colored flyers tucked under their windshield wipers advertising this or that.
What they're certainly not used to is finding a hand on their windshield.
That is the sight confronting car owners in Denver and Boulder, Colo., this month.
This life-sized paper hand, which has been attached to the driver's-side windshield wiper through a loop of paper, has one finger pointing into the air, the universal sign for "wait a moment."
But it's not until the driver gets into the car that the real meaning of the paper hand becomes clear.
It is indeed a reminder to wait a moment before starting up that car.
The hand is an alternative media stunt designed to help intoxicated drivers figure out when they've had too much to drink and need to call a cab to get home.
These instructions are written on the side of the hand visible to the car's driver: "When to call a cab: 1. Turn wipers on low. 2. If you have any difficulty following the finger with your eyes, we suggest you call a taxi."
Below that is the number for a local cab service.
The hand tags are being put on cars on behalf of Hapa Sushi, a chain with four locations in Denver and Boulder that offers happy hours.
The chain asked its agency, TDA_Boulder, to come up with a way to build brand awareness by encouraging people to get home safely after enjoying a few alcoholic beverages. It wanted to offer potentially intoxicated drivers the number for a taxi service.
The agency figured out quickly that an out-of-home campaign was the way to go.
"We realized people usually make the decision to drive drunk with the car key already in their hand," says Dan Coburn, copywriter at TDA_Boulder
"A television commercial or print ad isn’t going to reach these people when they are truly at risk of driving under the influence."
The agency had 5,000 hands printed up on card stock measuring 3.5 inches by 7 inches. They are being distributed on parked cars in the two cities between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. this month.
At the bottom of the hand is the Hapa name and logo, letting people know who sponsored this unique campaign.
The stunt works because it reaches people at the exact moment when they make the decision whether to drive or not. It's impossible to miss the hand, and Hapa earns some community goodwill by trying to reduce drunk driving.
The hands have been getting a positive response in the two cities.
"The reaction has been extremely enthusiastic. People seem to appreciate our approach to tackling this issue," Coburn says.
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