The Ad Council and the D.C.-based National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released new public service advertisements (PSAs) in support of the ongoing Distracted Driving Prevention campaign, which focuses on raising awareness of the dangers of using a cell phone while driving. According to the latest NHTSA data, in 2021, there were 3,522 people killed and an estimated additional 362,415 people injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes involving distracted drivers.
According to a release, the new PSAs, entitled “Really Scary,” tap into “the insight that the temptation for tech is visceral and ever-present, so drivers might not realize when they shift into distracted driving. The campaign aims to name the problem, so that drivers can become more aware of their behavior and avoid distracted driving. The latest TV creative depicts a scuba diver swimming in the ocean before coming face-to-face with a shark. As the camera zooms out, we see the driver’s phone screen and realize there’s something even scarier than the shark: the driver has been watching this video while driving. And because he’s distracted, he narrowly misses a pedestrian in the crosswalk.”
“The newest iteration of this important campaign brings the very real, very serious dangers of distracted driving to the forefront of the conversation,” said Michelle Hillman, Chief Campaign Development Officer, Ad Council. “With phones and technology more accessible than ever, we are proud to continue our partnership with NHTSA on such an important issue to raise awareness of the dangers of using your phone while driving.”
The latest creative installment, developed pro bono by Organic, includes TV, digital, radio, print and out-of-home assets that will appear across the country in time and space donated by the media. The PSAs will also be distributed to the Ad Council’s network of over 1,850 broadcast TV stations and 9,500 radio stations across the country.
Since first launching in 2011, states the release, the campaign has garnered over $460 million in donated media and over 24 billion impressions.
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