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Thunderbirds Are Go and Kiwi celebs spread the Shakeout earthquake response message

Yesterday, an earthquake in the lower North Island again served as a reminder of the constant threat these natural disasters pose to Kiwis. And while most Kiwis are familiar with the ‘drop, cover, hold’ response, the government aims to keep complacency at bay by regularly running ads that carry this message.

Over the last three years, Civil Defence organisation NZGetThru (and its agency Clemenger BBDO) has delivered this advice through a group of enthusiastic school kids (one of which hilariously said earthquakes caused “salamis”).

However, in the lead up to International Shakeout Day of Action scheduled for 15 October, NZGetThru has borrowed the animation talents of Weta Studios in a new campaign that features the characters from Thunderbirds Are Go

With the action taking place in the Thunderbirds Are Go headquarters, the characters give Kiwis advice on what to do in the event of an earthquake and also prompt viewers to visit the Shakeout.govt.nz website to sign up for the 15 October event. 

New Zealand is set to be the first country in the world to participate in the event, which aims to have communities across the world orchestrate an earthquake drill on 15 October at 9.15 am in their respective time zones. 

NZGetThru initially set the objective of having 1.5 million Kiwis participate in the event, and is currently a few hundred thousand shy with 1.2 million participants having registered via the website.

To drive interest in the event, NZGetThru has worked with Kiwi celebrities Taika Waititi, Jeremy Corbett, Kasey and Karena Bird, Jeremy Borland, Peter Jackson and Richard Taylor on a series of online video clips.     

Credits: 

Account Director: Emma Foot
Executive Creative Director: Brett Hoskin
Art Director: Steve Hansen
Copywriter: Emily Beautrais
TV Producer: Jen Gasson
TV Editor: Dan Monaghan

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