We follow a couple leaving a nightclub. The woman, who is the designated driver for her intoxicated boyfriend, starts to reply to a text as they start their journey. The boyfriend notices and suggests they swap places, putting him behind the wheel instead, underscoring the dangers of using a mobile phone while driving.
Titled “Designated Driver,” this PSA for the UK’s AA Charitable Trust for Road Safety and the Environment is running online and will be in cinema theaters starting on March 3.
James Rouse of Outsider directed for adam&eveDDB, London.
The spot is supported by the “Think!” campaign for the Department for Transport, which create road safety information and campaigns to reduce road deaths. The new ad coincides with new stricter penalties introduced this month for those caught using hand-held phones while driving.
Edmund King, AA president, said: “There has been much rhetoric about making text driving as socially unacceptable as drink driving. We have seen excellent drink drive campaigns over the decades that have changed attitudes. We believe that adam&eveDDB brilliantly interpreted the brief and have come up with a clever treatment that builds on the drink drive campaigns and makes text driving as socially unacceptable as drink driving.”
