Advertising standard

[ailbhe]

OK, I just saw a creepy as fuck road safety ad. At least, I saw a tiny bit of it, and then yelled for Rob to change the channel while I sat with my head in my hands doing the mental equivalent of "lalalalalalala".

Small dead girl, with blood trickling out of her ear, leaning against a tree. Blood trickles back into her ear, hands come out, pushes herself up, drags back onto the road - obviously the end of an accident in rewind. The gist of the voiceover was that 40mph is much, much more lethal than 30mph.

Do these ads have any effect on drivers? Am I right in thinking that the kind of driver who thinks "Oh, I was only 5mph over the speed limit" is basically immune to shock tactics like this? Or will it actually be news to some people that doing 40 through a residential area is a bad idea?

Comments

[flybabydizzy.livejournal.com]

I know the advert you mean. I am a driver, and I do have children. I think it is an excellent advert. It is shocking, but it gets over the message that a few more miles an hour makes a huge difference. My daughter is a newly qualified driver, and has commented on how memorable the advert is. It is shocking, but not as bad as being told 'mum, I've been in a crash' count so far is 2 each for my son, daughter and husband; only 2 hospitalised - dh 8 years ago, passenger of ds 4 years ago.