London’s Very Cool “Look Out for Cyclists” Ad

Watch out NYC DOT with your LOOK campaign. Here comes Transport for London with a new bike safety advert called, Do the Test.

Have you done it yet? You’ll spend the first minute or so having absolutely no idea what any of it has to do with traffic safety or cycling. But stick with it. It’s worth it. 

Rhys Thom at The City Fix points out the web-savvy sophistication of TfL’s effort:

Not only does this ad make the point in a very sticky way but they gave it the means to “go viral” by including links for viewers to spread it to their social network of choice.

  • ddartley

    Greatest thing ever in the history of television. Only sort of kidding.

  • That was awesome. DoT take note, humor sells.

  • A Non

    Yet another reason London is cooler than NYC.

  • Nowhere is cooler than NYC, we’re the capital of the world. That commercial is pretty damn funny though. And I learned something, bears can dance, but not well.

  • “Nowhere is cooler than NYC, we’re the capital of the world.”

    Now that statement is pretty damn funny!!!

  • The concept illustrated in the video is called “change blindness” and originally featured not a bear, but a gorilla. I wrote about it a couple years back:

    http://www.bikeyear.org/2005/08/need-more-gorillas.html

  • gecko

    Oh well. This is a marketing thing. Pretty pix; cute ideas. Not clear how many lives will be saved.

    Safe civil and industrial design broadly implemented will provide the solutions.

    Everything else is playing games.

  • Eric

    I actually reloaded the spot and watched from the start to make sure that the bear really was there from the beginning. Well done. And waaaay better than anything that ran during the Super Bowl.

    If it gets people to think, it’s a good thing.

  • gecko

    Maybe there should be a similar marketing campaign in Iraq to mitigate the violence.

    In any case many cylists and pedestrians remain in harm’s way.

  • gecko maybe. this is better

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