Don't Drink and Fly

Even SL residents have to be aware of the dangers of alcohol consumption. I realize that "drunk" avatars may not necessarily pose the real physical threats as drinking in the real world, but drinking and driving is still an issue that affects many RL individuals. Regardless of what world you live in, health-related safety messages are warranted in all forms.

I came across a simulated car crash - a bit graphic for my tastes - which was meant to demonstrate the consequences of drinking and driving (SlangLife 148, 106, 25). "Don't Drink and Drive" was displayed as floating text at the scene. A big beer bottle was also placed near one of the cars - reminding you that beer and cars don't mix. Tragedies included one death, one injured, and many onlookers emotionally shocked.

I've joined health-related groups and seen educational islands in SL devoted to bringing awareness to various health issues plaguing our lives. But this is the first interactive campaign I came across that was both engaging and visually powerful. There's something to be said about walking around the scene of an accident (even if it's virtual) and immersing yourself in the middle of the car crash. This can have a genuine impact on the viewer. Unlike passive campaigns, such as TV spot against drinking and driving, the audience becomes a part of the message. They take on the role of that 'emotionally shocked onlooker'.

At this point, these kinds of campaigns are still in its infancy in SL. But with tools that allow residents to shoot machinima and create avatar animations, I suspect these types of campaigns will become increasingly interactive.

Imagine this future scenario: let's say this same car crash ran on an animated loop. Avatar comes out of the bar, gets in the car drunk, then CRASH! - unfortunate chain of events. What if SL residents had the opportunity to interfere with these events during every loop - right clicking on the drunk avie and selecting the option of 1) Calling him a cab, 2) Offering to take him home, or 3) Grabbing his keys - all of which would prevent the animation from proceeding, hence saving the lives of two other avatars (at least for a little while, until the animation resumed itself). Now, instead of the floating text at the scene of the accident reading "Don't drink and drive" it would state the statistics of how many SL residents offered to help the drunk, preventing him from getting behind the wheel. Now, that's INTERACTIVE!

Consider this: Every SL-resident to impact the course of events, donations are made to organizations like SADD or MADD. Now, that's POWERFUL!