AUNZ Work of the Week: McCann New Zealand and Waka Kotahi

In the crowded, often grim category of road safety advertising, the Michael Hili-directed ‘Speed Demons’ trades the tired currency of shock and gore for a new kind of monster.

The first campaign from the newly-formed McCann New Zealand -- born from the merger of DDB and FCB -- for New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi deploys a squadron of tactile, unsettling puppets. These handmade ‘Speed Demons’ are not manifestations of crash horrors, but personifications of social pressures -- nagging friends and tailgating strangers -- that push young drivers to rush.

A celebration of practical craft in the digital age, each awkward, emotionally-loaded demon was brought to life through an analogue alchemy of 3D-printed cages, silicone castings, papier-mâché, and intricate cityscape miniatures. The meticulous, in-camera approach gives the creatures a tangible, human-feeling grotesqueness which Michael Hili puts down to the friction of physical materials.

The strategic shift is as significant as the aesthetic one. The campaign deliberately moves away from fear-based messaging, which research shows young audiences have learned to tune out, and which risks making speeding seem rebelliously edgy.

Instead, it reframes the enemy.

“The real danger for young drivers isn’t just the road, it’s the social pressure to rush,” co-chief creative officer Leisa Wall told LBB.

By making these pressures visible and, crucially, a little ridiculous, the campaign aims to strip rushing of its social status. The heroic act becomes the confident, controlled decision to simply refuse to be hurried.