Brake and Ogilvy put the fear of death into phone users last Christmas. Following an update in the law to make any use of a handheld mobile device illegal while behind the wheel, road safety charity Brake launched a national poster campaign developed by Ogilvy UK in partnership with Clear Channel to raise awareness of the dangers of reading messages on your phone when behind the wheel at Christmas.
Jason Wakeford, head of campaigns at Brake, comments: “Figures show that using your mobile phone at the wheel makes your reactions even slower than if you were drink driving, so it’s vital that we all give the road our full attention. As a charity we support the families of road crash victims, including those who have had lives torn apart as a result of someone not paying proper attention when driving. The temptation of using a phone can never be worth someone’s life.”
Chief executive creative director of Ogilvy UK Jules Chalkley added: “we wanted to create a blindingly simple campaign with no ifs or buts. Because when it comes to driving, read really can mean dead”.
The campaign ran across Clear Channel digital Out of Home sites for two weeks over the Christmas period utilising high footfall areas where people are out and about before they get in their cars and drive home, including high streets and shopping malls.