If you drink... don't drive

One of those ads that in Spain we have engraved in our retinas is the publicity spot for the Traffic Department of Spain (DGT) in Spain that they made together with Stevie Wonder. The motto 'If you drink... don't drive' endures despite the decades that have passed. The announcement was made in 1985, with Stevie Wonder at the top of the sales charts thanks to the soundtrack of The Woman in Red and his Oscar-winning song "I Just Call To Say I Love You". Stevie lent himself to giving his image and selflessly participating in the video in a campaign to prevent traffic accidents, which at that time in Spain lost more than 4,000 people a year.

The history of the spot began with the person in charge of international relations for the RCA record company in Spain, Jesús Pozo, who had noticed a lesser-known theme from the soundtrack, but which came in handy for the campaign to avoid excessive alcohol at the wheel. It was the song "Don't Drive Drunk". The idea of the General Directorate of Traffic was for Stevie Wonder to participate in the ad given the popularity that he had in Spain at that time. In the advertising slogan for the road, Stevie Wonder would be seen along with his famous phrase "If you drink... don't drive" and also an image with: 'Driver, remember' and the sum of a car plus a drink equals an ambulance.

The collaboration of Stevie Wonder that could seem the most complicated turned out to be very easy. Jesús Pozo got in touch with Stevie's manager, Ira Tucker, and he immediately saw it as feasible. A production team was quickly arranged to go to Los Angeles to develop the advertising spot and a "making of" there. The complicated thing was arriving in Los Angeles and the moment to start shooting. In Southern California the chances of rain are slim, but that day an overcast sky dampened the beginning of the recording. The concern of how to shoot the commercial in those conditions, and above all, how to successfully complete the shoot with Stevie Wonder put the entire team on the ropes. But an understanding Stevie with the situation and the commitment with which he had lent himself to the cause, manifested some "alleged discomfort" in his back and delayed the making of the spot for 24 hours. The next day it was finally possible to film, although not with a Rolls Royce convertible, but with an old Packard. There were 16 hours of recording in which Stevie was always ready for whatever was requested of him without any type of complaint, and that after 9 at night he still had to speak in Spanish in front of the camera: "Hello, I'm Stevie Wonder Remember my song: if you drink, don't drive." It finally ended at midnight, and despite the hour, he agreed to conduct an interview with the then correspondent for Spanish Television in the United States, Rosa María Calaf.

After all the commitments, Stevie Wonder had the courtesy to go to the hotel of the Traffic Department of Spain delegation to thank them for the twelve-string guitar that they had brought him from Spain. "A Spanish wonder" while he played some flamenco notes.

A transatlantic adventure to shoot a civic awareness advertisement with one of the most popular artists of that time and who, thanks to the selfless contribution of Stevie Wonder, saved the Spanish administration no more and no less than more than $5'5 millions today in day.