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 Post subject: TV ad
PostPosted: Mon Dec 06, 2004 18:09 
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Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 17:33
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Here's an idea. TV ads aren't just restricted to products and the Government. As a campaign group Safe Speed are equally entitled to put out a TV advert as the Government spinmeisters.

I'm a freelance cameraman and editor so to make a TV ad that lists REAL statistics would be easy. The cost to get the ad shown is quite another however, unless a big organisation who supports Safe Speed could be found to help (or a combination of supporting sources such as car magazines etc).

Of course the other problem is that a lot of people have their opinion that speed cameras are useless and that statistics for them are false, but for some reason don't want to 'stir the water' and appear un-PC for some reason and actually speak out openly about it.

One idea I had was for another take on that advert with the car braking and then hitting the child. Perhaps one could be made where the car stops in time and the falsety of the stopping figures used by the Highway Code and the original advert could be pointed out!

The problem with most other methods of campaigning, such as writing to MP's, and even featuring on Top Gear, is that the information doesn't get to the people who matter. The general population. Top Gear is generally only watched by petrol heads, so anything featured is like preaching to the choir. News tends be useless too as the subject is often glossed over in the end and never pushed enough. Newspapers are one thing too, but again the story just dissappears again. The tendancy seems to be that peoples grumbles against speed cameras and ridiculous knee jerk speed measures are heard, but only with the feeling that the powers that be will go ahead anyway.

A TV ad, particularly a clever eye catching one, stays in peoples minds because the message is repeated over and over. People can't ignore it, and neither can the Goverment. If the questions that Speed Safe has asked the authorities won't be answered, we should try and ingrain these unanswered questions into the minds of everyone in the country. That way the authorities cannot ignore them anymore.

Another way (again it costs money, sorry!) would be to make a DVD illustrating in practise the arguments of Speed Safe, and pointing out the reality of the statistics etc, the methods used by the authorities to distort facts to suit their arguments etc. This could gte publicity via the BBC perhaps and their websites as well as other places. People could order the DVD.

Another way would be to make the video viewable online and use extensive online marketing to get people to go to that page by having it featured on various other websites (again such as the BBC). I know all the facts are visible on the Speed Safe website, but some form of visual documentary that shows stuff in practise rather than people having to search for the info proactively on the website might be beneficial. Enough people have broadband in this country to make it worthwhile. In fact on one of my own sites the visitors statistics showed me that nearly 90 percent of people downloaded the huge 20mb video file over the 5mb medium or 2mb small file!


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Dec 06, 2004 19:24 
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Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2004 06:46
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Hi Simon,

I think about these opportunities a lot. I would love to be involved in any project that took the story to a wider audience.

But TV advertising? I'm having problems paying the rent. It's not easy to get good financial support, and not least because I've no experience in fund raising and little time to do it anyway. If funding was available, I'd make a TV commercial like a shot.

But what about a documentary? 30 seconds? No mate ... give me the full hour, or better yet a series of 6 one hour shows. We could make one hell of a series of road safety documentaries.

Have you got any skills or contacts to help me develop and deliver a documentary pitch?

An alternative might be to make something for DVD distribution. Such a thing might even make a profit.

All these ideas are great, but my most important work is (and will probably always be) feeding information to "opinion formers" rather than trying to convince the public directly. The public are influenced by the opinion formers, so the effect is similar with smaller resources. However, any good quality intelligent TV will strongly assist in convincing the opinion formers as well as the public.

Thanks for the ideas, and welcome to the Safe Speed forums.

_________________
Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety


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