Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Crash Test Dummies Commercial ("You can learn a lot from a dummy" 1980s)/ Print ad



I choose this commercial, because it was very important during its time. The commercials featured talking crash test dummies named Vince and Larry, who modeled seat belt safety practices through their slapstick antics. The campaign, along with the slogan "You can Learn a Lot from a Dummy," was very popular, and since then crash dummy characters remain a common sight in seat belt safety campaigns, especially those aimed at children. I believe this ad was successfully aimed at licensed drivers, but also the addition of humor makes it child friendly. The Crash Test Dummies Seat Belt Education campaign motivated a large majority of states to enact laws mandating the use of safety belts. In 1990, the campaign was recognized with a Gold Effie award from the New York chapter of the American Marketing Association. By 1994, seat belt usage had increased from 14% to 79%, saving an estimated 85,000 lives and preventing more than 1.5 million moderate to critical injuries. In 1999, Vince and Larry along with their campaign tagline, "You Could Learn A Lot From a Dummy" were retired when the U.S. Department of Transportation revised the campaign. The new slogan advised "Buckle Up. Always."

This is a Print ad from a magazine.

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