Did you know that people in Brussels care more about their food than friends while driving? It’s not us saying this but a study, which discovered that around 85% of Belgian drivers who carry food on the passenger seat drive more carefully. This phenomenon is quite interesting to look at. And this is why NGO Responsible Young Drivers and Renault Belux have joined ‘wheels’ to create something to raise awareness. Out of their hands was born “Safety Cake,” a delicious sweet specially crafted to make motorists change their behavior when they are with friends and encourage them to be more responsible when they are behind the wheel.
For this reason, creative agency mortierbrigade created an eponymous campaign, developed the #TreatYourFriendsLikeACake hashtag, and designed an online platform where motorists can learn more about what they can do to make their friends feel safe while on a ride. But the campaign’s centerpiece is a beautiful and fragile piece of pastry that has an immediate impact on the motorists’ driving behavior.
Joost Berends, Creative Director at mortierbrigade, said in a press release: “The idea started from the principle that we drive more careful when we transport food on the passenger seat, like for instance a pizza, some Chinese takeaway, or a cake. An inquiry further confirmed this observation. With the Safety Cake, we seek to bring across a very clear message about our driving behavior not being very logical, in a way that people can recognize. Because why wouldn’t you be just as careful with your passengers as with the cake standing next to you?”
By using the #TreatYourFriendsLikeACake hashtag, the Brussels-based agency hopes to make motorists treat their friends the same as they are around a tasty cake: Meaning that all has to be done with care.
Laura Gonzalez Schena, coordinator at RYD later adds: “With the Safety Cake we want to address road safety in an original and positive way. We don’t want to moralize or point fingers, yet seek to open the discussion with a positive message.”
The Safety Cake initiative is part of a global awareness campaign and has a social component, in order to appeal to as many as young people as possible. Users and drivers can find the campaign on www.safetycake.be, along with a recipe to drive safely. Plus, there’s a video to make them be more conscious about this action. But if you don’t have the patience to follow it on the website, then we invite you to have a look at the film, here, by clicking the “play” button on the video below.