Visual — hollyp

0:01 to 0:03 The scene starts with dim lighting inside a bar. The subject is a black male, seeming to be in his mid to late 20s. The first thing we see is a wide shot, with a slow zoom to focus on the male subject as he picks up his drink and turns around. There are two other men standing around the outside of the frame, talking. The bartender walks behind the bar and disappears behind the subject. The subject looks down into his drink. It is assumed that he is holding an alcoholic beverage.

0:04 to 0:06 The following scene starts with the focus on a white male, seemingly the same age as the previous subject. He is at an outdoor event, that looks like a picnic or barbeque, holding a red solo cup and looking at another man grilling. There is a woman walking between the camera and the man, likely heading towards a table to eat the food on her plate. The shot starts to slowly zoom in on the man with the solo cup.

0:06 The man’s smile fades as he looks down into his cup. The other people around him at the event continue to talk to each other. 

0:07 The scene shifts to a new subject, a white male who looks to be closer to his early 30s. He is sitting on the tailgate of a truck bed, outside at an event with other people around the same age. They are dressed casually, likely at a tailgate before a sporting event. He is holding a blue solo cup, and in the frame we can see food and alcohol. He is smiling while talking to two women on his right. The shot starts to slowly zoom in on the man.

0:09 The first subject appears in the bar again. The camera is still zooming in on him while he holds his drink in his left hand. His right hand is reaching into his pants pocket as a confused look scans across his face. He looks down as the video fades to the next scene.

0:10 to 0:13 The second subject appears at the picnic again. Similar to the previous scene, the subject reaches his left hand into his pocket with a confused expression. He pulls something out of his pocket. It is not completely clear what he is holding and staring down at, but it looks like keys of some sort.

0:14 to 0:15 The third subject, at the tailgate, gets car keys tossed to him. With the camera zooming in further to just show him, we can see the confusion on his face as he moves the keys in his hand. The confusion fades to a more satisfied look. 

0:16 to 0:17 The first subject in the bar appears again, with what are obviously car keys in his hand. The camera zooms in far enough that we can only see him from the waist up and the bar behind him. He appears to have come to a realization of some sort, but it is unclear what. We can assume that he is thinking about whether or not he should drive home after drinking at the bar, and that he realizes he should not. However, this thought is not confirmed by what we see. He drops his hand out of the frame. 

0:18 The video cuts to the man at the picnic, showing him chest up. He is smirking and looking out in the distance to his right. He is likely thinking a similar thought to the one of the man in the bar. He gives himself a quick nod.

0:19 The scene shifts back to the hand of the man in the bar. The focus for only a brief moment is a pair of car keys in the palm of his hand. The camera quickly cuts back to the man, but now we can only see him from his waist up. The angle cuts to a close up of the man, as he puts his keys back into his jeans pocket.

0:20 The next scene shows a close up of a backpack outside. The background gives off the impression that it is in the same location as the man at the picnic. A hand comes into the frame and plays keys into the side pocket of the bag, and moves away.

0:21 The guy at the tailgate tosses the keys back to whoever threw them to him in a previous scene. He has an expression of relief on his face.

0:22 to 0:26 The camera is positioned outside of black car. The same man from the tailgate is shown in the backseat of a car, reaching for the seatbelt and bringing it across him. The words “PLAN AHEAD. CATCH A SOBER RIDE.” are shown across the middle of the screen, which credits to Ad Council, Project RoadBlock, and NHTSA are shown at the bottom. 

0:27 to 0:30 The guy from the tailgate is shown clicking in his seatbelt and sitting back in the seat with the words “BUZZED DRIVING IS DRUNK DRIVING.” across the screen in front of him. The guy looks satisfied by his decision to get a ride with someone else, rather than driving after a few drinks. The same credits are at the bottom of the screen.

The commercial does a great job of tapping into the different situations people can find themselves in while drinking; whether it be in a bar, at a picnic, or at an event with friends. The director(s) and writer(s) used the harsh transitions between scenes to grasp the attention of the audience. The focus was to show that people under the influence, even if they are not completely drunk, should still make smart decisions when it comes to driving home. 

Using the capitalized lettering at the end of the commercial adds emphasis on the fact that we all have a chance to make the right decision.

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