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This is part of a case series. Petrol sniffing was one of the most pernicious problems facing remote indigenous communities in northern and central Australia. Although the number of users was relatively low, the social, physical and financial impacts of sniffing were immense. One strategy was to substitute low-aromatic fuel for regular unleaded petrol (ULP) in participating communities. A new low-aromatic fuel developed by BP, Opal was introduced in 2005 with great success, so much so that the Government decided to extend the programme significantly and to include Alice Springs, a major regional hub. Soon after its launch there, reports that Opal was damaging car engines surfaced, with petrol stations threatening to cease supplying Opal. The Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (OATSIH) which was overseeing the scheme, needed to devise a new approach. This is a case that can be used to discuss strategic communication and social marketing, as well as more generally, policy development. It demonstrates some of the subtleties of communication with different target audiences, and the importance of understanding the full range of interested stakeholders.