Anti-speed campaign off to a promising beginning

A new anti-speed campaign launched in the east of England earlier this year has got off to a very promising beginning.

The campaign, ‘For my girlfriend’ is aimed at the notoriously tough young driver audience and faces a young male driver with the prospect of killing his girlfriend because he is driving too fast. The principal method of delivery is a postcard featuring a red rose on the bonnet of a crashed car, with the message ‘For my girlfriend..’. On the reverse of the postcard the stark message is, ‘I didn’t mean to kill you’. The principal campaign objective is to remind drivers in the 17 - 25 age range of the potentially tragic consequences of driving to fast, by getting a postcard distributed to as many people as possible in this age band.

The campaign was launched on 14 February (Valentines Day) a time when people of all ages (particularly the young) give flowers to their loved ones. The campaign launched simultaneously at a series of events around the eastern region and was backed by a three-day burst of television advertising.

Since the launch the emphasis has been on direct mail, with hundreds of schools and colleges, major employers, nightclubs and cinemas receiving a letter asking for their help and support by distributing the postcards to their students/employees/guests. The response has been remarkable, with around 15 per cent of establishments responding positively. By 18 April the number of postcards sent out by request had topped 100,000. The campaign objective is to distribute all of the 500,000 printed postcards before the end of 2002.

The campaign is jointly funded by a consortia comprising Bedfordshire CC, Cambridgeshire CC, Essex CC, Hertfordshire CC, Luton Borough Council, Peterborough City Council, Suffolk CC and Thurrock Council.

For further information about this campaign please contact:-
Sally Bartrum
Campaign co-ordinator
Tel: 01379 650112
Email: sbartrum@stennik.com