The RTA has produced two television commercials aiming to communicate the following messages:
- 'Fight' communicates the damage you can do to yourself if you are unrestrained, even in a minor accident. The concept depicts a man in the street being assisted by two police officers; it is apparent that he has sustained serious injuries. A series of supers and voice-overs tell us about his wounds. The twist comes when it says, "you should see the other bloke", and we then see the other person who looks perfectly normal because he was wearing a seat belt. The research showed this concept communicates the positive aspect of seat belt use.
- 'Father' communicates the damage an unrestrained passenger can do to other passengers in a minor accident. The research showed this information was 'new' to our target audience and countered their commonly held belief that you are only hurting yourself if you don't wear a seat belt. The concept depicts a man in his fifties who has obviously sustained serious injuries. The supers tell us his son did this to him. The twist in the commercial comes when we realise his son did this because he was not wearing his seat belt.
The commercials work by involving the viewer on an emotional level and by drawing an analogy between non-seat belt wearing and anti-social behaviour. The commercials challenge the belief that it is OK not to wear a belt on short trips and that you are only hurting yourself in an accident.
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