With traffic conditions deteriorating and road-user etiquette at an all-time low, the new Ford Discover Band Road Safety Campaign #DiscoverMoreInYou hopes to bring about the change we want to see.
A wise person once said, “an individual is smart, people are stupid.” While I don’t know where that actually came from, I can see the point. The air of looming mass ignorance towards basic courtesy is tangible, at times, far too literally. While adults have the responsibility to be, um, responsible road users, clearly that isn’t happening. So, the latest activity from Ford India sees them tying up with leading means of reaching children and promoting road safety by means of the city police, radio stations, schools and authorized dealerships.
After conducting surveys in cities with a dismal traffic rule following, the ball of implementation has finally begun rolling. After Lucknow, it was Pune’s turn to have the initiative take off. The results of the Ford “Cartesy” survey were disturbing, to say the very least. More than half the people surveyed (51%) think they don’t need to wear seatbelts. A huge 45% don’t believe in adhering to traffic disciplinary rules while 41% turn a blind eye to accident victims. Over a fifth of the surveyed folk, 22% to be precise, admitted to freely breaking signals. If that isn’t disturbing from a basic safety standpoint, what is?
As such, trying to get the message through to stubborn and entitled adults is not apparently the way forward. So, maybe their children can talk some sense into them. The Ford Discover Band is the means chosen to bring about change with the pledge being that the wearer will “not honk unnecessarily, not drive on the wrong side, help people in distress, let kids sit only in the rear seat.” Ford India will reach out to more than 500,000 children across 650 schools, in partnership with kid’s media giant Nickelodeon, and using special alternatives as well, such as FM channel Radio Mirchi 98.3 in Pune city and the Pune Police.
Rahul Gautam, Vice President of Marketing, Ford India (centre) with Prakash More, Assistant Police Inspector, Traffic, Pune (right) and RJ Ira, Radio Mirchi (left) at the Ford Discover Band launch
Rahul Gautam, Vice President of Marketing, Ford India, said, “The Ford Discover Band is a constant reminder for people on the road to always do what’s right and realize that change begins with them. The Discover Band sitting on our thumbs will remind us to be humane in our everyday behaviour. It comes with a pledge that urges its users to stay calm, compassionate and responsible while driving and help them discover more in themselves.
The Ford Discover Band will be distributed to the children of those schools and to all customers across all Ford dealerships.
You may watch the campaign video here:
