New Zealand spot from Clemenger BBDO paints keeping your eyes on the road as a blissful escape from your phone. In a world where young people are constantly bombarded, digitally, when driving young people who can legally drive should use it as an opportunity to ‘switch off’ from the digital and focus exclusively on the road.
To date, most road safety ads about distracted driving have focused on the awful consequences of what could happen if you text and drive—for example, AT&T’s disturbing “It can wait” campaign.
However, a new spot for the New ZealandTransport Agency by Clemenger BBDO takes a different tack: it tries to persuade you of the benefits of switching your phone off. In other words, it could be a blissful escape from the stream of dings, likes, tags, memes, messages and emails (a little like taking a long flight, before they introduced Wi-Fi on planes).
The director, Sweetshop’s Jakob Marky, expertly helps to communicates the dystopian aspect of being “always on” and the constant headache that phones have become, before we see a young woman switching off her phone and driving serenely off in utter quiet.
Brigid Alkema, executive creative director at Clemenger BBDO, explains further: “This campaign changes what it means to not check your phone in the car. Instead of your car inconveniencing your connectedness, it can offer a sweet escape. A subtle yet brilliant flip that changes the way you think about the hierarchy of your car and phone. ‘Let Driving Distract You’ turns the car into a helpful and useful tool for phone resistance–a place to start practicing restraint.”
As we know, young people are at the forefront of new technology – not only should young people ‘switch this off’ in the car but also encourage drivers to do this as passengers too. Young people can act as role models.
READ MORE ABOUT DISTRACTED DRIVING
Adapted from Original Article
