AT&T Lauches Texts Can Wait Campaign

textingwhiledriving.jpgAT&T
is launching a campaign to raise awareness about the risks of
texting and driving, informing cell phone users that text messages can - and should - wait until after driving.

The
national campaign features true stories and the text message that was
sent or received before someone's life was altered, or even ended,
because of texting and driving. By featuring real stories, the campaign
will demonstrate how insignificant a text message is compared to the
potentially dire consequences of reading or responding while driving.

For
example, in one of the television spots, the text "Where u at?" flashes
on the screen and a mother says, "This is the text my daughter was
reading when she drove into oncoming traffic." The ad also includes the
message "No text is worth dying over" and the campaign's tagline,
"Txtng & Drivng ... It Can Wait."

"We
explored several campaign concepts but we didn't have our 'aha!' moment
until we asked one of our focus groups to take out their devices and
read the last text they received," said Cathy Coughlin,
senior executive vice president and global marketing officer for
AT&T. "When we asked if that particular message was worth the
potential risk of reading while driving at 65 mph, you could have heard
a pin drop. That's when we realized the message 'it can wait' was
effective in educating consumers about the dangers of texting while
driving."

The
new campaign will span print, radio, TV and online advertising - which
will be rolled out in the coming months - as well as in-store signage,
collateral and online billing. In addition, parents, high school
educators and, most importantly, youth, can now visit AT&T's online
resource center www.att.com/txtngcanwait.
The site includes downloadable information about texting while driving
such as a parent-teen pledge; a teen-teen pledge; a poster; a brochure;
safety tips; and more.

AT&T also has launched a Facebook application, which can be found at www.facebook.com/att.
Friends can share this application with one another to encourage each
other to take the pledge to not text and drive. AT&T will also be
promoting the pledge via a "twitition" on Twitter to ask followers to
rally around the cause. You can follow @ShareATT on Twitter. In
addition, to honor those taking the pledge, AT&T will contribute $250,000 to one
or more non-profit organizations focused on youth safety and will
announce the selected non-profit organization(s) at the start of
National Youth Safety Month in May.

"While our campaign is important for all drivers, we're particularly focused on youth," said Coughlin.