Handle with care

Esuvee is the focal point of new US advertising campaign.

A big, furry creature called Esuvee is the focal point of an $37 million advertising campaign aimed at making American owners of sport utility vehicles better drivers.

The campaign was commissioned by the attorneys general of 50 states and paid for out of the 2002 settlement of a lawsuit the state officials brought against Ford, alleging the carmaker misled customers about the safety of SUV Ford Explorers.

The vehicle was involved in a number of fatal rollover accidents. As part of the settlement, Ford agreed to pay for a year-long $37 million education programme on SUV safety.

Officials from the 50 states chose New York advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty to run the campaign and PR agency Peppercom to handle promotions.

The states say the intent of the campaign is not to discredit SUVs but rather to focus on safer driving.

"It's just a different way of promoting safety," says Ford spokeswoman Gina Bonacchi. "Would it have been how we chose to do it? Maybe, maybe not."

The ad agency assembled six focus groups of 75 to 100 male SUV drivers - and some women - between the ages of 21 and 39 and presented them with SUV crash statistics from the United States' road safety watchdog, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

It wanted a campaign that didn't scold or threaten SUV owners but instead pointed to the vehicles being different, in that they needed to be handled in a special way.

The ad agency experimented with scare tactics, such as showing accident photos and statistics to the focus groups. "But that didn't work," said David Terry, the agency's head of planning, "because many Americans have become desensitised to portrayals of gore."

The agency also tried guilt. It prodded focus group members to drive their SUVs safely for their families' sake. "That didn't work, either," says Terry, "because many of the young men said they drove too skilfully to get involved in a rollover. They didn't believe the statistics and felt that statistics could be manipulated.

"Underlying all of this is a real defensiveness that SUV drivers have about criticism of the vehicle."

But one focus group collectively said that when they drove an SUV, "I feel like I have an animal under me."

The terms of the legal settlement with Ford prohibited the agency from illustrating the campaign with any image that resembled an SUV on the American market.

So Bartle Bogle Hegarty created the mythical animal, Esuvee.

"Emotionally it felt like what these guys described a real SUV to feel like," says Terry.

"It's big and it's powerful, and mastering it is something all SUV drivers need to learn how to do."

Peppercom built Esuvee: 3m tall, 3.3m wide and 4.8m long.

Its face and head move by remote control.

It has headlights for eyes and a grille in the middle of its face.

"It's kind of cute, in a big, furry, growling kind of way," says Ann Barlow, a partner at Peppercom.

"It attracts attention."

Barlow says the campaign will not emphasise SUVs' safety technology but rather will stress safe driving.

"We hope to eventually look at behavioural changes in SUV drivers and collect statistics to see if the campaign works."

Esuvee highlights critical driving tips: check tyre pressure, don't overload the vehicle, avoid abrupt manoeuvres, don't speed.

It reminds Americans that SUVs "can give you a sense of invincibility, but if you lose control they become very dangerous due to the weight and high centre of gravity".

A consumer survey found that 50 per cent of Americans did not know that overloading an SUV increases the risk of rollovers.

Further, and perhaps the most tragic statistic: 80 per cent of Americans killed in SUV rollovers were not wearing seatbelts.

Esuvee is booked to appear this year at big league baseball and football games, as well as festivals and motorsport events.

"We will have people giving away fliers with safety tips," says Peppercom's Barlow.

"We'll also give away key chains shaped like the paw of the beast."