You never know when your car will break down, and that's an especially handy message for a tow truck company that makes its living hauling in cars that have broken down alongside the road.

If people get the message, maybe they'll write down the tower’s phone number and keep it in the car for that unfortunate day.

It's all about how you get that message across.

For CitiTowing of Johannesburg, South Africa, it meant putting the message on a large sign and towing it out onto the highway.

"You never know when you’ll need us,” said the sign in big bold letters. Just below was a phone number between the words "Save" and "Now," along with the company logo.

The kicker was that the sign was mounted behind a truck that was itself obviously broken down, its hood up and plumes of white smoke pouring out from its engine (see picture, below).

The alternative campaign came from Saatchi & Saatchi, the tow company's agency in Johannesburg.

“The idea is that people don’t think that breaking down will happen to them, but the simple truth is that anyone can end up having a broken down car,” says Ben du Plessis, Saatchi & Saatchi executive creative director in Johannesburg.

“And usually when their car is broken down, they don’t know which emergency towing service number to call,” says du Plessis.

The smoking engine was staged using smoke bombs.

The agency staged the breakdowns during rush hours on heavy traffic areas around Johannesburg through the month of March.

Manning says the campaign got a rousing response among motorists and was picked up on the internet, where images of the smoking trucks were passed around.