Kiwi drug driving ad an online hit

An anti-drug driving ad featuring three Maori children arguing over which of their dads drives best while "blazed" has become an online hit.

Oscar-nominated director Taika Waititi is behind the ad, titled Blazed - Drug-Driving in Aotearoa.

It has been called an "instant Advertising Hall of Fame Drugs PSA classic" by advertising blog Copyranter.

The ad outclassed those shown in the US, which are "laughably ineffective" and "preachy", the respected blog said.

Blazed was launched on Maori TV.

It has been viewed more than 500,000 times on YouTube since being put up on September 13.

The station's blurb says the situation the three children find themselves in is one "familiar to most kids growing up in New Zealand".

"Sitting outside in the car, waiting for one of their dads to come out and drive one of them home. The only thing is, the dad has been blazing, and the kids know it. We watch them change from comical to contemplative, as they examine their own awareness of their dads' behaviour in the raucous, imaginative way only young boys can."

Clemenger BBDO, which also produced the viral hit Legend ad in 2011, is behind Blazed.

- nzherald.co.nz