asmac

[U]https://www.youtube.com/embed/JHixeI..._load_policy=3

Looigi

You mean this?

FBinNY 

Shock advertizing. I wonder it it works. I'm also curious about what appeared on the screen when the call was made , ie. what did the moviegoers who didn't pick up a phone see?

OTOH- does anybody have a source for the claim that mobile use is now the No.1 cause of fatal MV crashes? Not disputing, just curious.

I-Like-To-Bike

Shock value that makes an argument that cyclists would do well to avoid riding their bicycles in a crowded movie theater.

Little or no safety lesson on bicycling or driving safety from this video because answering/using phone while passively watching a movie with zero consequences has no relationship to being responsible for actively driving/controlling a moving vehicle.

I-Like-To-Bike

It is repeated often enough on BF Internet, some people said so, and I read it somewhere on the Internet, therefore it just must be true!

Chris516

I found a CDC link. BUT, It doesn't say texting while driving is the #1 killer.

Distracted Driving | Motor Vehicle Safety | CDC Injury Center

Maybe someone else can find it tooling around the CDC website.

dynaryder

Ad played in Hong Kong. It could be number one over there.

I'll let VW know that this is not ILTB approved.

I've seen some pretty powerful anti-texting/cell phone vids on YouTube. Even Oprah,who's pretty much a force of nature,had an anti-yakking campaign. But it's going to take more than that to get people to change their behavior. Look how long it took for drunk driving and smoking to become uncool.

koolerb

It made the point. I thought it was pretty good.

I-Like-To-Bike

What do you think that point was and did it involve bicycling safety?

asmac

Yes, insofar as texting drivers diminish cyclist safety and it's a good idea to discourage the practice. Are you trolling or just not understanding?

I-Like-To-Bike

Given that the demo didn't show anybody texting, nor were any of the subjects driving, nor was there any demonstration of bicycling involvement, the question is who is trolling whom?

If the demo showed people not paying attention to what was happening on their TV show while they answered the phone would that make the same cycling safety point for the A&S cell phone ranters?

jwarner

"What was that?"

"It's called a medium sketch"

"How's that"

"Well it wasn't rare, and it certainly wasn't well-done."



If it stops one person from playing with their phone, it didn't cost me anything, and I'm all for it.


(Image from a random Guardian newspaper article)

Chris516

Considering that this was done in Hong Kong. That isn't anything like those in say, Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo, Saigon, Seoul, and Bangkok. So, The number of people the campaign would reach. Is far less. Since Hong Kong is an island city within China.

keyven

I think the idea was to get people talking about distracted driving. Will certainly be describing this video to my wife tonight and discussing it with her. I'm sure I won't be the only one. That's a good start in my book.

It's probably done with a bunch of actors in a cinema. They may have been directed to 'attend' a screening, with their mobile phone details taken down, and told to pay attention to their phones when it beeps, and start replying to a random question on the message.

It is likely they were not warned of the impending 'crash' and their reactions are genuine upon hearing the sharp squeal of the tires.

dynodonn 

Sitting in a movie theater, more people are apt to look and answer their phones during the ads segments..........and far less while driving, a slick commercial within a commercial though.

I-Like-To-Bike

Slick - Yes.
Bicycling related - No.

YouTube is chock full of slick stuff, I see no need to post it on A&S.

Maybe there is a video somewhere of people in a theater watching for the first time the shocking shower scene from Psycho. Some bright A&S poster might think it would send a slick/powerful message warning cyclists of the dangers of showers.

dynodonn 

I should have attached a sarcasm icon to my post, since I wasn't looking at the ad in a positive light. Just a slick marketing ad by VW, and following the current trend towards texting and driving. If drinking and driving was socially acceptable, we would be seeing ads with vehicles loaded with happy party goers.

VTBike

Is it even possible to send a text message to everyone in the theater that way?

mrodgers

It is when it's staged and they have everyone's cell number.

FBinNY 

Here's an article explaining how it as done. BTW- it wasn't staged.

Number400

At 20 seconds in, they show that they are using a broadcast transmitter to hit all phones in the area.
Any publicity against distracted driving is good to me. It was funny to see everyone just look down automatically when their phones chimed. It's freaking nonsense to me.

dynaryder

Yes.

Feldman

If VW wanted to be bold about this they could improve their already excellent cars by offering built-in wireless jamming technology as an option. Don't want your kid texting and driving? Buy 'em a Golf with "NoCell!"

VTBike

The article really doesn't say much of anything. It's at best a guess. The article does not indicate with any certainty that it was not staged. From what I have read online, there is no consensus as to whether or not it was indeed staged. Do you know something that other's don't, or were you just wrong in giving a definitive answer?

FBinNY 

Does it matter? If it' important to you, contact VW's ad agency, and ask them if they staged it for youtube or actually did something in an HK movie theater.

For my part, I simply posted a link to an article. Folks can read it and take away whatever they want.