Glee Sends Message: Don’t Text While Driving

Eighty‐two percent of young adult drivers (16‐24) have read a standard text message while driving, according to a national survey conducted by the Ad Council. The State Attorneys General and Consumer Protection agencies, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Ad Council launched a public service advertising (PSA) campaign aimed at young adults to discourage them from texting while driving. The PSAs communicate to teens and adults that when you text and drive, you are not multitasking, but essentially driving blind. The TV, radio, outdoor and digital PSAs drive the audience to the campaign website, StopTextsStopWrecks.org, where teens and young adults can find tips and tactics for how to curb their behavior. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube social media channels were established to extend the campaign messages online.

Playing off of the popularity of Glee, Twentieth Century Fox Television and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment have created PSAs featuring scenes from the series in which a character was driving to her friends’ wedding when she received a text. She took her eyes off the road to read it and type a reply for a matter of seconds, but in her distraction she swerved out of her lane and was hit by an oncoming vehicle.

"This was a story we wanted to tell because we know the influence our show can have in starting conversations and raising awareness," says Glee executive producer and cocreator Ryan Murphy. "We had been looking for an opportunity to tell the story of how a few seconds of carelessness could have a devastating impact on people's lives. We've already heard from thousands of our fans how this story touched them, and we loved the idea of a PSA campaign to keep this important issue front and center."

Visit the campaign website to download audio, video, print and outdoor campaign materials, and customizable materials such as flyers, posters, postcards, blog templates, social media posts, and video and print infographics.