Results and Effectiveness

SFX: The Safest Firecracker Xperience exploded in the media, making the front pages of daily newspapers and being featured in the news on television and radio. It likewise had a huge online following--trending on Twitter and various social media outlets. Taiwan also adapted the same idea for the Chinese Lunar New Year, distributing CDs which likewise contained firecracker sound effects. Best of all, this year's injuries went down by a whopping 31% compared to last year's.

Creative Execution

SFX: The Safest Firecracker Xperience looked like a giant firecracker; it housed a CD that had 9 tracks, featuring sound effects of the most popular firecrackers. SFX was distributed in government agencies and hospitals. Instead of playing with fire, people could just play the CD. There was no physical risk involved and the need for noise was taken care of. To reach the whole nation, a website www.safestfirecracker.com was also created where anyone could download all 9 tracks.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

For decades, Filipinos have welcomed the New Year with firecrackers, believing that loud noises drive away bad luck. Every year, there are thousands of fatalities. Because of the high incident rate, the Department of Health wanted a media idea to stop superstitious Filipinos from lighting up firecrackers at home. For the 2012 New Year, the Department of Health wanted Filipinos to celebrate safely and festively. Thus, SFX: The Safest Firecracker Xperience was distributed to the public. It was packaged to look like a giant firecracker, containing a CD with 9 tracks of the most popular firecrackers. Instead of risking injury, people could just play the CD. The need for loud noises was addressed without having to sacrifice life or limb. All Filipinos were the target audience; this dangerous habit spread over all income brackets.