I think we have all seen the commercial of the drunk couple walking down the street, while police camouflaged in the background see them, as they get into their car and drive away later they are pulled over and the tag line is “They see you before you see them”. There is also the commercial of a car full of alcohol and when the driver is pulled over and opens the door the alcohol spills out, don’t drink and drive. These are stereo typical American anti drunk driving commercials. Most American drunk driving commercials emphasize the legal aspect of drunk driving; fines and jail time, the same cannot be said for their European counterparts.

In the UK the Think! campaign has been going strong for over 50 years. The typical British commercial uses fear as it’s motivating factor. There are many anti drink driving (as they call it) commercials where blood, body bags, crushed people to name a few things are shown. The commercials are graphic, gripping, upsetting and thought provoking. They not only show how the drivers life is impacted but the impact it has on others.

So what type of commercial is more effective? Let’s look at some numbers:

The U.S. fatality rate is 124 deaths per million people, but in the Netherlands, that figure is 40 deaths per million. In Sweden it’s 42, and in the U.K., it’s 43.

What would make the most impact on you? I know, for me, I lived in England for 3 years and the drunk driving commercials scared me!

I found them much more effective than our US ones. When thinking about drunk driving the first thing that cones to my mind is that people can be killed, not going to jail and having an interlock device. That’s just me though.

If you want to see the difference in the commercials check out our Youtube page and look at the playlists. There are American and UK commercials a well as some from New Zealand and Australia. Whatever commercial works for you the message is clear DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE and as always DRIVE SAFE!!!