• by Larissa Faw , March 13, 2015

A Philadelphia pedestrian is hit by a car, on average, once every 5 hours, with cell phone usage as a major contributor.

Now, the city's Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities, which promotes traffic safety, and especially pedestrian safety, and Philly advertising agency LevLane are combating pedestrian cluelessness with the “It’s Road Safety. Not Rocket Science” campaign.

The concept suggests that the “secrets” to street safety are so simple, and so widely ignored, that to repeat them would an insult to consumer intelligence, say agency executives. Instead, the creative uses street-level cartoons to hold up a mirror to the reckless cell phone behavior—often laughable if it weren’t also lethal—going on everywhere you look for it. 

The campaign's catchphrase is "Phone down. Head Up." The campaign appears at four of Philadelphia’s highest use traffic hubs - Municipal Bldg., Wanamaker Bldg., Rittenhouse Sq., Temple campus - that have been transformed using artwork that subtly incorporates each location's surroundings into multi-panel, wrap-around strips. 

Traditional transit media also puts similar creative in one-panel formats. 

In addition, bus ceilings - dubbed “Michelangelos” – display cartoons not of cell phone users, but of their phones, showing three different texting dialogues, each likely to end badly. Some of the featured quotes include: “Walking over now.” “Put ur phone down while you walk.” “ok.” “Put it down!” “I said ok.”

Additional support advertising includes site-specific mobile, geo-targeted to the city’s 20 deadliest intersections, where those watching their cell phones as they cross will be informed of the fatalities that have occurred where they now stand. 

There are also :15-second spots airing on digital radio, paid Facebook and Twitter outreach, and a microsite with shareable content accessible here.

LevLane has been working for the Mayor’s Office since October 2012. The full-service marketing communications agency's clients include the Kennedy Health System, Rothman Institute, Massage Envy Spa, JLL, Buckner Retirement Services, Pivot Physical Therapy, Messiah Lifeways, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation and Center City District.