“Don’t Text and Drive.” So reads the tagline of Verizon’s latest advertising campaign aimed at preventing thoughtless drivers from putting their text messaging needs ahead of public safety. The new ad campaign will blitz television, radio, print, online, billboards and non-traditional media with words of wisdom from the first US wireless carrier to back legislation that required drivers to use hands-free mobile phone solutions when driving.
Laws making it illegal to drive while tapping out a text message have already hit the books in many of the United States, but Verizon is taking it upon themselves to stop wayward drivers from menacing our roads. “Our objective is clear and simple: change the behavior of drivers who text while behind the wheel. No text message is worth risking a life,” said Dan Mead, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Verizon Wireless.
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The advertising campaign coincides with the holiday season – a time when many people are spending more time thinking about and visiting with family and friends. Verizon hopes that the season’s good vibes will strike a chord with drivers and convince them that driving with a steering wheel in one hand and a text message in the other just isn’t good practice.
The image you see above is what drivers across the US will see (as long as they’re not busy sending a text message) plastered on billboards on the side of the road. The video shows Verizon’s television ad for the “Don’t Text and Drive” campaign. There’s also a radio ad that you can listen to here.
Kudos, Verizon.