Scholz & Friends Puts Children's Drawings on the Autobahn for 'Runter vom Gas'
Updated: 13 hours ago
Scholz & Friends has extended Germany's federal road-safety campaign 'Runter vom Gas' with motorway posters that, for the first time, use children's drawings instead of shock imagery — a route the public voted for — across roughly 700 billboard sites tackling tailgating, speeding and phone distraction.
What's New
Scholz & Friends has rolled out a new wave of Germany's long-running federal road-safety campaign, 'Runter vom Gas' ('Ease off the gas'). For the first time, the motorway posters use motifs drawn by children rather than the campaign's traditional shock imagery.
The public voted for the children's-drawings route over harsher 'shock' concepts. The new motifs target the three main crash causes — tailgating, speeding and smartphone distraction — for the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) and the German Road Safety Council (DVR).
The Numbers
This wave runs seven different poster designs — up from the usual three — across roughly 700 motorway billboard sites nationwide. Scholz & Friends has led the campaign continuously since 2016, a rare decade-long client relationship in public-sector communications.
Letting the public choose the creative direction is itself a strategic move: it builds ownership of the message before a single poster goes up.
Marketing Minute's Take
Switching from shock to children's drawings is a bet on emotional warmth over fear — and the evidence increasingly favours it. Fear appeals can numb or repel; a child's drawing personalises the stakes in a way that lingers.
Involving the public in the creative choice is the sharper idea. It turns a top-down safety lecture into a shared decision, which is exactly how you get people to internalise a behaviour-change message rather than tune it out.
What Businesses Should Do
Reconsider fear-based messaging. Warmth, humanity and relatability often change behaviour more durably than shock, especially for messages people would rather avoid.
Involve your audience in the creative where you can. Co-creation — even something as simple as a public vote — builds ownership and attention that a finished, handed-down campaign rarely achieves.
Quick FAQ
What is 'Runter vom Gas'?
It is Germany's long-running federal road-safety campaign, led by agency Scholz & Friends since 2016 for the BMDV and the German Road Safety Council (DVR).
What's different about the new wave?
For the first time the motorway posters use children's drawings instead of shock imagery — a direction the public voted for — across seven designs and around 700 billboard sites.
What does it target?
The three main causes of serious crashes: tailgating, speeding and smartphone distraction.
Swapping shock imagery for children's drawings is a smart bet on warmth over fear, but the real masterstroke is letting the public choose. Co-creation turns a safety lecture into a shared decision — and people internalise what they help decide. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Warmth changes behaviour more durably than fear — and letting your audience help choose the creative builds ownership no finished campaign can.
Are you lecturing your audience into changing — or giving them a stake in the message?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: HORIZONT, the DVR press office, kom.de and campaigngermany.de.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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