Ride Sober or Get Pulled Over in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Anime Inspired Spot

Covert's latest ad for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 'Ride Sober or Get Pulled Over' campaign showcases a masterful blend of visual styles. 

Expertly directed by Chris Boyle, the ad seamlessly integrates multidisciplinary animation and VFX, drawing inspiration from film noir, anime, and retro video games. 

The stylistic shifts add a flare of creativity and create a visually engaging piece, yet reinforces the message and powerfully highlights the serious consequences of impaired driving. 

Covert creative director Dan Andrew notes, "It’s always a pleasure to team up with Private Islands’ Chris Boyle on another creative adventure, and this one truly pushed the boundaries! The brief was both brilliant and ambitious: to showcase three distinct animation styles in a 30-second drink-riding awareness campaign. A challenge? Absolutely. But with Chris’s clear vision and direction, we were ready to dive in.

"Our workflow was the familiar Covert magic: starting with style frames, moving through the lookDev phase, and then crafting extensive animatics for the client and director. This led to final renders, compositing, motion graphics, and grading.

"One of the most intriguing aspects of this project was the meticulous attention to detail required. Given that it was for the National Highway Traffic Safety Department, every detail - from road markings to the angle of parked police tires and reflective gear - needed to be spot-on. Surprisingly, the feedback often focused more on these legal details than on the creative execution!"