This Royal Lifesaving WA campaign harnesses an unlikely voice to encourage young people to speak up and look out for each other – ‘Mermates’.
John Linton, 303 MullenLowe Head of Planning, said: “In the moments of truth when young people are getting into danger, we know it’s their mates who have the best chance of getting through to them. But we also know how hard it is for them to say something in these situations. We wanted to destigmatise doing the right thing by creating a persona our heroes could use to call out their mates’ stupid behaviour.”
Lauren Nimmo, Royal Life Saving WA Senior Manager, said: “We continue to be concerned by the influence that alcohol has on drowning amongst young people – particularly young males. The ‘Mermates’ campaign will help to affect behaviour change by giving young people practical tips for how to talk their mates out of danger. We are hoping that it will create a powerful way to turn peer to peer messaging into action to prevent drowning.”
