AASHTO Journal, 30 October 2015
A zombie-themed, survivalist set of “Driving Dead” videos, with embedded driver-safety messages about belting up or not drinking and driving, has drawn more than 3 million views through YouTube, facebook and other sites since the Illinois Department of Transportation launched it in August 2014.
AASHTO Journal reported on the launch last year of the campaign that features actor Michael Rooker, a star of the “Walking Dead” television series. Now, that series has four video installments, which track teams of fighters in a post-apocalyptic world who battle the un-dead and other enemies.
In each, at some point in either the action or flashback sequences, the actors cite the risks of bodies flying around when not belted into their car seats or how quickly a drunk driver’s actions can turn tragic.
These are not the usual, short videos seen in more traditional messaging campaigns, but well-directed short stories lasting as long as nearly 10 minutes apiece. The campaign includes 30-second promotional film trailers, plus postings on various social media sites for updates and behind-the-scenes information such as how makeup artists prepare the “zombies.”
IDOT has continued to tout the still-developing campaign when it issues traditional press releases warning drivers about high-fatality driving periods such as Labor Day.
“It seemed strange to feature zombies in a safety campaign, but with literally millions of views in the last year, the people behind the campaign must have known what they were doing,” said Lloyd Brown, communications director for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
Brown noted in his “Talking Transportation” blog this month that the IDOT campaign “targets young men who tend to tune out traditional safety messaging and who also tend to be responsible for more risky behaviors such as driving aggressively or without seat belts.”
For readers who have not seen any of these episodes, the Halloween season could be a time to start viewing them at the campaign’s dedicated website. But, Brown says, they should start with the first episode in order to follow the story line.