Tops | The Aftertaste

In South Africa, where casual drinking is deeply ingrained, alcohol-related road deaths exceed 1,000 per month, yet widespread messaging has led to public apathy.

As the country’s largest alcohol retailer, TOPS at SPAR set out to challenge this with a harder-hitting, more resonant approach.

Instead of focusing on the immediate consequences of drinking and driving, the campaign highlighted the lasting emotional “aftertaste” of these decisions. We used real testimonies from victims and perpetrators to create a series of striking alcohol labels that each “bottled” the long-term trauma left behind.

By shifting the narrative from “Will I get caught?” to “Can I live with myself?”, and leveraging the universal metaphor of taste, the campaign cut through effectively and delivered a 1177% ROI.