The Campaign

Australia has long had a drunken love affair with the humble kebab — similar to shawarma, for any Americans reading. A night out Down Under isn't complete without huffing down a tangled mess of cheese, meat and tabouli and trying to keep it down while taking a taxi home. Tapping into this contemporary social behaviour, we composed an original song titled the ‘Kebab Shopera’ - an extravagantly heartfelt aria about a kebab shop owner who laments the fact his late-night customers are taking a month off the booze. It was a satirical look at what happens to kebab shops during Dry July, and ultimately encouraged young Australians to sign up to the cause.

Creative Execution

As there was no money for traditional media we knew we had to leverage social media to maximize engagement. Without the money for seeding we worked with Opera Australia and one of their brightest young tenors, John Longmuir. Together, we wrote the ‘Kebab Shopera’ - an extravagantly heartfelt aria about a kebab shop owner who laments the fact his late-night customers are taking a month off the booze. “Goodbye to you, my onion-breathed compadre,” Longmuir’s broken-hearted döner slinger sings to his long lost alcoholic regular, “The pain [is] so spicy in my heart.” The film was launched via YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, and our team worked around the clock to convert positive comments into positive action – registering participants to sign up to Dry July.

Dry July received AUD $3,625,732 in donations over just 4 weeks. 16,756 participants signed up to the cause. There was a 21% increase in money raised per participant in comparison to 2015. But most of all we raised money to benefit cancer patients and their families and carers all around the country

Music is viewed as an important background feature in advertising because of its wide use and ability to enhance viewer arousal and affect. However, it can often be left until the end of the creative and strategic thought process. That was not the case in this campaign. To help encourage young Australians to sign up to Dry July - a small charity that encourages young Australians to give up alcohol for a whole month, we started with a piece of music and wrote an original composition based on an operatic aria, and used it for humorous effect.

Australia has more charities than ever, all competing for the same donation. And the dollars they're all chasing are getting tight. A new report released by JBWere reveals that there is now one charity for almost every 400 people living in Australia. And with a deeply entrenched culture of heavy alcohol consumption, Australians tend to tune out any messages suggesting they take a break. We needed to downplay the arduous challenge of going a whole month without alcohol, and deliver it in a subversive way that would engage audiences. The strategy was twofold; 1) tap into existing social behaviours amongst younger Australians and 2) appeal to their compassionate side to motivate them to sign up and raise money for the charity.