Selling common sense

Common sense and common courtesy are not as common as most of us would like. For decades it has fallen to the public sector to market these two concepts. Here are some campaigns I’ve seen since arriving in Australia. 

The City of Brisbane has launched a “rethink your rubbish” campaign, going after buttheads and flingers. Rethink your rubbish is primarily an school based program, but these ads are nice effort to go after adults.

The NewSouth Wales Ministry of Health is taking on the consequences of binge drinking with the provocative “What are you doing to yourself” campaign. These ads are appearing the Kings Cross neighborhood, which is the center of nightclub and bar activity in Sydney. 

The City of Sydney is taking on pedestrian safety.  Across the globe pedestrian are more distracted than ever before and putting themselves at risk on the road. Sydney is following the humor model with a retro reminder to look both ways before you cross the street. While humor is great way to engage the public, safety is no laughing matter when you consider that the City of Sydney, which is about as big as Center City Philadelphia, had about a person a day struck or killed by a car in 2010.  

Philadelphia took advantage of April Fools Day to remind our citizens about the dangers of distracted walking. 

In early 2013, Philadelphia will be launching a “it’s road safety not rocket science” campaign targeted at improving driver, cyclist and pedestrian behavior.  The campaign is fresh, smart and has an attitude that is very Philly.  I am not going to show our cards yet, but it will be attention worthy.