Clever Creative: Prepare for Impact

Posted Thursday September 08^th, 2016 by Caitlin Artigliere in Creativity + Art.

Let’s be honest, we’re all guilty of looking down at our phones while we are driving to: read a text, skip a song, check the subject header of an email. Today’s Clever Creative by AT&T will make you rethink that decision and reconsider the next time you go to pick up your phone. As you probably know, AT&T has their “It Can Wait” campaign, which discourages drivers from getting distracted by their phones while driving. According to one statistic, 1.6 million crashes each year are caused by people using their cell phones while driving. In order to solve this issue, AT&T created this PSA-driven campaign. So far, 10 million people have taken the “It Can Wait” pledge to stop looking at their phones while driving.

Along the same theme as some of their other ads for this campaign, AT&T’s most recent one shows the dangers of getting distracted by your phone while driving. This one tells the bone-chilling story of a responsible father who takes his eyes off the road for two seconds and must prepare for the impact that decision has.

The full version:

The 30-second version:

Why our GEMites liked this clever creative:

Have you ever experienced a moment in your life when you look back on something you did a year, a month, a week, or maybe even hours ago, and say, “What was I thinking when I did that?” Well, this ad does just that. The chilling and punch-in-the-gut reaction you get from watching it makes you wonder why you ever thought texting while driving was okay. It makes you reconsider all those times you decided to answer a text while driving instead of waiting to get somewhere or pulling over to do it.

Every company’s goal for an ad is to make it so powerful that it stays in your head. We love this ad because most companies have to show you their ads three or more times to make them stick, but AT&T’s newest “It Can Wait” ad only needs to be seen once to impact your behavior. The next time you consider picking up the phone while driving, we guarantee you’ll think of this ad and put it down. We love that this ad highlights the fact that even the most responsible people slip up when it comes to distracted driving. We also love the almost supernatural aspect of the ad in which the kid appears in the father’s car. It adds an eeriness to the commercial that only strengthens the impact of the story unfolding.

Why our fellow creatives should like this:

The advertising space is extremely cluttered, especially with ads taking over every available medium like radio, TV, music streaming, podcasts, apps, social media, billboards, etc. So, we must find new and innovative ways to get our messages across to consumers, and as of late, it seems that most companies are taking a cinematic approach in order to entertain audiences. AT&T has done that in this ad, but that fact alone is not why you should like it. We believe you should like it because it is a PSA that has somehow succeeded where most other PSAs fail: They got their message across in an engaging way. We’ve all seen impactful PSAs before, but most of them aren't powerful enough to make you sit and think about your decisions for minutes, maybe hours, after watching them. AT&T was able to engage their viewers and keep them wondering what was going to happen and when it was going to happen.

AT&T also manages to hit you with a moment that sends chills down your spine and gets the message across loud and clear, that even when you’re alone in the car, and seemingly alone on the road, you’re not. Sometimes people need to learn the hard way, and this PSA shares the harsh reality of what texting and driving can do. We think our fellow creatives should like this ad because its cinematic approach leaves you unprepared for the type of impact it will have on your thinking.

Let us know what you think, and look out for next week’s installment of Clever Creatives!

If you’re looking for some clever creative of your own, feel free to contact us.

Clever Creative: Prepare for Impact

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